COTABATO, Philippines: Muslim guerrillas returned to the Philippine government Wednesday at least 16 assault firearms of police anti-terror commandos who were killed in what the insurgents say was a “misencounter” that has stalled a new peace deal.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader Rasid Ladiasan said the handover of the firearms to government officials in a military camp in the south was meant to show the group “want peace.” A cellphone was also given back and at least one more rifle from the slain policemen will be returned later, he said.
President Benigno Aquino III has asked the rebels to return the slain commandos’ weapons and help government forces hunt down terror suspects in the south.
“We want to show our sincerity and our commitment to the peace process,” Ladiasan said by phone. “The police and military are no longer our enemies. There has been no fighting for three years, but what happened was really unfortunate and beyond our control.”
“In war, we all lose,” MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said during a ceremony for the return of the firearms.
Presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles said the MILF's decision to return the firearms showed that the 11,000-strong group's leaders have control over their fighters, who traditionally don’t return weapons they seize in gunbattles.
“It’s a show of good faith,” Deles said.
The police commandos reportedly killed one of Southeast Asia’s most wanted terror suspects, Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, in a Jan. 25 raid in the marshy outskirts of southern Mamasapano town. But as they withdrew, the policemen got entangled in two gunbattles with MILF fighters and other armed groups in the far-flung region, killing 44 of the commandos.
At least 18 Muslim rebels and three villagers were killed, police said.
The huge police casualty toll — the government’s biggest single-day combat loss in recent memory — angered many, including lawmakers, who have suspended committee hearings on a proposed law that will create a more powerful autonomous region for minority Muslims in the south under a peace deal signed by the government and the Moro rebels last year.
But a cease-fire under the peace deal actually worked to prevent more casualties when foreign and Filipino peacekeepers intervened and managed to ease the fierce Mamasapano clashes. They also arranged the safe retrieval of the slain commandos from the two scenes of the gunbattles after the clashes, officials said.
The United States, Russia, Australia and several other governments have renewed their support to the peace process in the south and have also condoled with the families of the slain commandos.
Police commanders who oversaw the anti-terror raid have acknowledged in congressional hearings that they did not effectively notify the Moro rebels about the raid as required under the cease-fire to prevent accidental clashes.
A police commander involved in the assault also has acknowledged in a congressional inquiry that he and other police officials did not notify the military and an acting national police chief before the assault was launched. That prevented the military from rapidly providing combat support to the commandos who were surrounded by an overwhelming number of insurgents.
Aquino has suggested that the anti-terror raid should have been aborted when the planned night assault unraveled not according to plan.
Peace commitment: Philippines' MILF group returns 16 guns of slain cops
Peace commitment: Philippines' MILF group returns 16 guns of slain cops
Proposals on immigration enforcement flood into state legislatures, heightened by Minnesota action
- Oregon Democrats plan to introduce a bill to allow residents to sue federal officers for violating their Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure
NASHVILLE, Tennessee: As Democrats across the country propose state law changes to restrict federal immigration officers after the shooting death of a protester in Minneapolis, Tennessee Republicans introduced a package of bills Thursday backed by the White House that would enlist the full force of the state to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Momentum in Democratic-led states for the measures, some of them proposed for years, is growing as legislatures return to work following the killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. But Republicans are pushing back, blaming protesters for impeding the enforcement of immigration laws.
Democratic bills seek to limit ICE
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul wants New York to allow people to sue federal officers alleging violations of their constitutional rights. Another measure aims to keep immigration officers lacking judicial warrants out of schools, hospitals and houses of worship.
Oregon Democrats plan to introduce a bill to allow residents to sue federal officers for violating their Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.
New Jersey’s Democrat-led Legislature passed three bills Monday that immigrant rights groups have long pushed for, including a measure prohibiting state law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has until his last day in office Tuesday to sign or veto them.
California lawmakers are proposing to ban local and state law enforcement from taking second jobs with the Department of Homeland Security and make it a violation of state law when ICE officers make “indiscriminate” arrests around court appearances. Other measures are pending.
“Where you have government actions with no accountability, that is not true democracy,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco said at a news conference.
Democrats also push bills in red states
Democrats in Georgia introduced four Senate bills designed to limit immigration enforcement — a package unlikely to become law because Georgia’s conservative upper chamber is led by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a close Trump ally. Democrats said it is still important to take a stand.
“Donald Trump has unleashed brutal aggression on our families and our communities across our country,” said state Sen. Sheikh Rahman, an immigrant from Bangladesh whose district in suburban Atlanta’s Gwinnett County is home to many immigrants.
Democrats in New Hampshire have proposed numerous measures seeking to limit federal immigration enforcement, but the state’s Republican majorities passed a new law taking effect this month that bans “sanctuary cities.”
Tennessee GOP works with White House on a response
The bills Tennessee Republicans are introducing appear to require government agencies to check the legal status of all residents before they can obtain public benefits; secure licenses for teaching, nursing and other professions; and get driver’s licenses or register their cars.
They also would include verifying K-12 students’ legal status, which appears to conflict with a US Supreme Court precedent. And they propose criminalizing illegal entry as a misdemeanor, a measure similar to several other states’ requirements, some of which are blocked in court.
“We’re going to do what we can to make sure that if you’re here illegally, we will have the data, we’ll have the transparency, and we’re not spending taxpayer dollars on you unless you’re in jail,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton said at a news conference Thursday.
Trump administration sues to stop laws
The Trump administration has opposed any effort to blunt ICE, including suing local governments whose “sanctuary” policies limit police interactions with federal officers.
States have broad power to regulate within their borders unless the US Constitution bars it, but many of these laws raise novel issues that courts will have to sort out, said Harrison Stark, senior counsel with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
“There’s not a super clear, concrete legal answer to a lot of these questions,” he said. “It’s almost guaranteed there will be federal litigation over a lot of these policies.”
That is already happening.
California in September was the first to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration officers, from covering their faces on duty. The Justice Department said its officers won’t comply and sued California, arguing that the laws threaten the safety of officers who are facing “unprecedented” harassment, doxing and violence.
The Justice Department also sued Illinois last month, challenging a law that bars federal civil arrests near courthouses, protects medical records and regulates how universities and day care centers manage information about immigration status. The Justice Department claims the law is unconstitutional and threatens federal officers’ safety.
Targeted states push back
Minnesota and Illinois, joined by their largest cities, sued the Trump administration this week. Minneapolis and Minnesota accuse the Republican administration of violating free speech rights by punishing a progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants. Illinois and Chicago claim “Operation Midway Blitz” made residents afraid to leave their homes.
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety and called the Illinois lawsuit “baseless.”
