MANILA, Philippines -- Assaulted by superior firepower from the enemy, Marines caught in an ambush in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan, on Tuesday responded with mortar fire -- but did not do much damage.This was apparent in the video footage taken by the GMA 7 television network of the fire fight that occurred after forces of the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front attacked a convoy of soldiers belonging to the Basilan-based First Marine Brigade. GMA 7 reporter Jun Veneracion -- who along with two crew mates was caught in the middle of the fire fight -- said the Marines had one mortar launcher with 81 mm ammunition. Veneracion said that while the Marines were able to return mortar fire, many of the rounds appeared to be duds. In the video, the Marines were seen loading the mortar launcher and firing. There were instances when the rounds worked. But there were also instances when nothing happened after mortars were dropped into launchers, and the Marines were seen turning it over to take out the apparently faulty rounds. Military and defense officials agreed that there were lessons to be learned from Tuesday’s attack, including examining their stock of ammunition. One lesson may be to listen to the information of local officials. The Marines went to Ginanta to check on reports that abducted Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi was being brought by his captors to the village in Basilan province. The missionary was seized in Payao town in Zamboanga Sibugay province after celebrating Sunday Mass on June 10. Not in Basilan? Basilan Rep. Wahab Akhbar said Bossi was not sighted in any municipality of the province. “The local officials, especially the mayor of Albarka, told the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] many times that Bossi was never sighted in any municipality in the province. But it seems the information directly coming from the local officials are not respected and not honored by the military, that’s why this incident happened,” Akhbar said. Albarka Mayor Jakilan Karam said he had also received reports that Bossi and his kidnappers were hiding in his town. “I had already spent so much dispatching my people; they did not see Bossi here,” he said. But the mayor said the suspected kidnappers -- Nurwani Abdusalam and his men -- were seen in Barangay Pakisong in Tipo-Tipo Central on June 17. Abdusalam allegedly went to the house of Nurhassan Jamiri in Barangay Limbo Pas and then visited his two nephews in Ginanta, Karam said. Jamiri is a known Abu Sayyaf member, he said. “They stayed for 10 days and left. We don’t know where they went,” Karam said. Brig. Gen. Ramiro Alivio, commander of the 1st Marine Brigade based in Basilan, said he was optimistic that Bossi was being held somewhere in the province. He cited several informants who had brought photos and an audio recording made by the victim. One of those who had the photos, taken with a mobile phone, was former Tuburan Mayor Hajarun Jamiri, an uncle of Nurhassan Jamiri who was considered a “possible link” to the kidnapped priest, Alivio said. Former Deputy Speaker Gerry Salappudin agreed with Akhbar, his political opponent, that Bossi “is not in Basilan” but was “still in the Zamboanga Sibugay area.” “At this stage, I believe the use of military force is unnecessary and we must first allow all peaceful negotiations to take place for the freedom of the Italian priest,” Salappudin said. Both Akhbar and Salappudin know the terrain around Albarka since both served as governors and had once fought government troops there. Akhbar was reportedly one of the founding commanders of the Abu Sayyaf Group years before he became governor, while Salappudin was a commander of the Moro National Liberation Front in the 1970s before he surrendered in the early 1980s. Warning to Marines According to Akhbar, Mayor Karam and the police chief of Albarka had advised the Marine officers against entering Ginanta, which, they said, “is an MILF-controlled area under the ceasefire agreement.” The mayor confirmed the information in a mobile phone interview. But Karam said the military allegedly insisted on making a “right turn” to the village as it was a shorter route to their destination. Karam said that upon his arrival in Basilan from a trip to Cotabato, he went straight to the battalion headquarters to advise its commander to order his men to avoid Ginanta. But a failure in radio communications prevented the officer from reaching his troops, he said. Akhbar said the Marines were given enough warning by the local officials. The “unfortunate” encounter took place because, he said, “some eyes and ears are covered and even hearts are sealed.” “The local officials did their part but their voices were not respected. If only they listened and believed,” he said. Salappudin said it was a simple case of “disregarding the guidelines under the terms and conditions of the cessation of hostilities.” In past kidnapping cases, especially those involving foreign nationals like Bossi, he said, “the force of diplomacy must be exhausted first before the diplomacy of force is used.” Close to his heart Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the leaders of the Oakwood mutiny of 2003, wants a deeper inquiry into the ambush. Speaking through his lawyer Rey Robles, the former Navy lieutenant expressed his “deepest sympathy to the families of the soldiers who perished in the line of duty.” “It is obvious from television footage that defective ammunition was issued to them [Marines], which may have resulted in their failure to effectively defend themselves against the enemy,” Trillanes said. The ambush resulted in the death of 14 Marines and the wounding of nine others -- the biggest casualty list of troops in a single encounter in the last two years, according to the military. Ten of the slain Marines were beheaded. The issue of defective military weapons is close to Trillanes’ heart. As one of the leaders of the mutinous Magdalo group of soldiers, he decried the supposed corruption in the government and the military that, he said, had deprived soldiers of proper uniforms, effective weapons and sufficient compensation and benefits. Robles said Trillanes was calling on the government and the Armed Forces to pay serious attention to the matter and mount an investigation. Many reasons “The senator is currently gathering information regarding the incident and will act accordingly once [the investigation] is completed,” Robles said. Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan, spokesperson of the Marines, said there were many reasons the mortar rounds did not fire, including faulty storage. “Given the nature of the way soldiers are deployed, it’s almost impossible to properly store ammunition,” Caculitan said in a phone interview. He acknowledged that he had been in fire fights where mortar ammunition failed. Having seen the GMA 7 video, he said the Tuesday debacle could “trigger an evaluation of mortar rounds” in military storage. “It opens an opportunity and need for us to evaluate the performance of our ammunition and ordnance,” he said. Critical situation Defense Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina, a retired general, said encounters where ammunition failed had actually happened. But Carolina, who retired in 2003 and who was actively involved in military efforts to rescue foreigners taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf from a Palawan resort, said what happened in Basilan was “a serious matter.” “I am sure the military is now looking into this,” he said, acknowledging that he had seen the GMA 7 video showing the mortar rounds that did not work. He said it was saddening to see such an occurrence in a critical situation. Carolina echoed Caculitan’s theory of faulty storage of the mortars. But he also cited improper handling, and even the manufacture, of the ammunition itself. Unlike ammunition for firearms, mortar rounds are more sensitive, according to Carolina. He said mortar rounds were stored in casings and could be affected by improper storage. “We should learn from our experience and correct it immediately,” Carolina said, adding that this problem was supposed to have been addressed by the military earlier on. Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, another ex-military man in the Senate, wants more information before attributing the soldiers’ bloody defeat in Basilan to defective weapons. Biazon -- who in 2001 instigated a Senate inquiry into the allegation that defective weapons had allowed Abu Sayyaf bandits cornered by the military in Lamitan, Basilan, to slip away -- said his initial information indicated other factors could have affected the mortar launcher in Tipo-Tipo. Ammo exposed to elements “We cannot conclude that the weapons are defective because sometimes the troops, when they go out in the field, remove the encasement of their ammunition [to lighten their load]. This exposes the ammunition to the elements,” Biazon said. “Sometimes [the rounds] get wet, or moisture messes up the propeller chargers. But we are still looking for more details,” he said. Biazon also said that the Lamitan inquiry did not provide “conclusive evidence” that military-issued weapons were of poor quality. | 
