Op-Ed: Terrorist accomplices | Editorial – The Philippine Star
The Armed Forces of the Philippines counts at least 919 terrorists killed in five months of fighting in Marawi City. The AFP backed by the Philippine National Police, meanwhile, lost at least 165 personnel.
Government forces continue to hunt down the remnants of the terrorists. But Maute and Abu Sayyaf gunmen weren’t the only ones responsible for the deaths of government forces as well as civilians caught in the crossfire. Local officials and residents who supported the terrorists, from the planning of the siege to the final days when the gunmen were trying to leave Marawi, must also be held to account for the carnage and the destruction of a once bustling city.
The terrorists could not have taken on the AFP and elite commandos of the PNP for five months without an extensive supply network for their weaponry, food, water and the other basic necessities of life. They needed a large amount of funding, some of which would have passed through banking channels and been managed by someone knowledgeable in finance.
Those who harbor terrorists and engage in terrorist financing are as dangerous as the ones who pull the trigger or set off bombs. These supporters are accomplices to terrorism and mass murder, and they can also be liable for money laundering. The government must apply the laws penalizing such activities.
Hunting down these supporters must be conducted with the same zeal that has been applied in sweeping Marawi of armed Maute and Abu Sayyaf gunmen. The threat that terrorist supporters pose also deserves to be neutralized.
ASEAN NEWSPAPER OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS
7.1. War vs incompetence starts – The Daily Tribune
7.2. After Marawi, AFP turning to NPA – The Manila Bulletin
7.3. Deserving of contempt– The Manila Standard
7.4. GOVT PUSHES FOR JEEPNEY MODERNIZATION– The Manila Times
7.5. Improving credit access – The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
7.6. Terrorist accomplices – The Philippine Star
8.1. A step back to a purely nationalist view of foreign policy – Jonathan Eyal – Straits Times
>
NOTE : All photographs, news, editorials, opinions, information, data, others have been taken from the Internet ..aseanews.net | [email protected] |
For comments, Email to :
D’Equalizer | [email protected] | Contributor
