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26 Soldires, 31 Abu Sayyaf killed in the Sulu clashes, this was the statement given by Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro. It seems that my outrage due to this incident and that of the Tipo-tipo ambush is fueling a sort of knee-jerk reaction to just want to kill and wipe these scumbags off from the face of the earth.

Of course, being a rational being, I stop myself, and keep asking the who, what, where, when, why, and how. All of these questions have yet to be answered, and with an mixed bag investigating team made up of MILF members, I’m not sure we can even get a straight answer.

Even our own soldiers are weary against the military top brass, because in the end, they know that it is the lower ranks that will get the blame along with the Abu Sayyaf of course.

The Inquirer has an updated article on the Sulu Clashes,

On Thursday, 25 soldiers from the 33rd Infantry Battalion were killed, 10 in the Thursday morning ambush, and 15 others in an armed engagement also in Maimbung on Thursday afternoon.

It was the biggest single day casualty for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in recent years, Bacarro said.

“As to the efforts against the ASG [Abu Sayyaf group], this will not slacken. We will continue looking for them, hunting them down,” Bacarro said.

Bacarro said the reinforcements would bring to 4,000 the strength of forces running after over 200 Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu.

The 33rd IB, which figured in the two engagements on Thursday, would be recalled and replaced by another Army battalion.

Bacarro belied observations that the heavy military casualties and the Thursday morning ambush in Maimbung indicated the Abu Sayyaf is on the offensive.

“Three of the offensives are government-initiated. We are the ones on the offensive,” he said.

Bacarro may want to think about that answer though, because even though the whole of the operation may be offensive, it is no doubt that these skirmishes have been initiated by The Abu Sayyaf. After all, as they say, a good defense is sometimes a good offense.

Nontheless, I am deeply saddened by these deaths. Our soldiers are taking the full brunt of these battles, but the top brass, are failing miserably and maybe even playing politics. The Tipo Tipo Ambush, and now the Sulu clashes are just two incidents in which my faith in the Military Top Brass is nowhere to be found.