A barrel of worms
By Noralyn Mustafa

NO matter how the public may now perceive the five leaders of the Makati mutiny -- their tarnished idealism, damaged credibility, incompetence in spoken English, etc. -- their accusations, however incoherent, have opened up a whole barrel of worms.

Many of these issues have been public knowledge for sometime now; mostly the stuff of speculation, but almost none has been spoken of, except in whispers. Until now.

If there is anything good that has come out of this alleged coup attempt so far, it is that the worms have been let out, by no less than those who knew of their malevolent existence first-hand.

The allegations are very serious-which is, of course, an understatement. And at once unbelievable and frightening: the selling of arms and ammunition to the enemy; the Davao bombing; corruption. There are the earlier allegations of collusion with the Abu Sayyaf; smuggling; illegal logging; even drug trafficking and other venalities.

Much earlier there were the published reports, though not proven, that certain top military officers, in the interest of their logging activities, had a role in organizing the Abu Sayyaf, or, at the least, encouraged its existence.

Against this backdrop are the unsolved murders of those other young officers who saw and dared to tell, though tragically, only to a very few.

The mutiny and subsequent hearings were of special interest to us in Mindanao because most of the alleged acts of corruption were committed here, with the never-ending conflict providing the situation conducive to wrongdoing.

But what most caught our attention in Sulu were the disclosures of Marine captains Danilo Luna and Ury Pesigan who accused top officers of the Southern Command of selling guns and ammunition to Hadji Bagis Ahmad, former mayor of Panamao and former field commander of the Moro National Liberation Front (not Moro Islamic Liberation Front as earlier reported).

Bagis was one of the so-called "Magic 8," the first batch of MNLF commanders who "returned to the fold of the law" in the early 1970s.

The inventory of war materiel delivered to Bagis, as enumerated by Luna, was astounding: "16mm recoilless rifles; mortar rocket launchers; .50-caliber machineguns; high explosives. The reenactment of the delivery, though merely done through computer graphics, was no less shocking.

A day or two later, a former Southcom commander, retired Gen. Romeo Padiernos, admitted in a television interview that it was he who had ordered the delivery to Bagis. In justifying his "decision," Padiernos said that Bagis headed a "paramilitary group" and needed assistance to fight presumably lawless elements.

To those who have no idea as to the protagonists and the ground situation obtaining here, the story sounds plausible enough. But the general's narrative, intended to clarify the matter, made the situation more confusing and raised more questions.

The other protagonist according to Padiernos was Hadji Abdul-kadil Estino, former mayor of the town named after his grandfather, Panglima Estino. He is the son of the mayor he succeeded, Hadji Ma-as Bawang who, like Bagis, was a former MNLF field commander and also a member of the Magic 8; and the brother of former Vice Gov. Hadji Munib Estino.

Padiernos related that the two were brought to a conciliatory meeting by MNLF chair and former ARMM Gov. Nur Misuari, but that Estino had "arrogantly" walked out of that meeting.

From Padiernos' own account, what we see is not a paramilitary unit in dire need of assistance from the Southcom in repelling the Abu Sayyaf and kindred souls. As clear as it can get, this was no more, no less, than a shooting feud between two warlords, each with a formidable number of followers.

Which brings us to the most logical conclusion: the delivery was made to the favored protagonist to provide him with more arms to fight the other.

Is Southcom in the business of aiding protagonists in shooting feuds? What are the factors that make them take which side? Were the arms and ammunition "given" as claimed by Padiernos? If so, why? Or were they sold? If so, is that legal? And for how much? And how much of these guns and explosives found their way to the Abu Sayyaf?

These are very, very disturbing questions. And they demand answers, certainly more urgently than the mystery of why Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV failed to file his statement of assets and liabilities for two straight years.

And to pursue our questions further, how many such deliveries have been made and to whom? By whom? But the most troubling and chilling question is: how many soldiers and innocent civilians have been killed by these same high-powered firearms?

These questions may never be answered; we don't expect them to be. Regardless, we have found our own answers through the haze.

Now we know why the so-called Mindanao conflict has gone on for decades. Now we know why it will never end. Now we know why many, many more of us will get killed.

Whether the Oakwood mutineers will be convicted no longer matters in the whole scheme of things. In their so-called adventurism, whether intended or not, by opening up this stinking barrel, they have made us see forever.

And if only for that, the Oakwood mutiny was, as far as we are concerned, well worth it.

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