Basilan church officials not afraid of attacks after Marines' pullout

Saying they trust the military's decision, Catholic Church officials in Basilan said they are not afraid of possible attacks after the pullout of Marines from the province. Isabela (Basilan) Bishop Martin Jumoad said he is certain the Armed Forces of the Philippines knows what it is doing for the security of the people in Mindanao. “We are not afraid. We fully trust in the AFP that what they are doing is right regardless of who they are going to deploy here," Jumoad said in an article posted Wednesday on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site. He said their bigger concern now is for the government to make sure the peace situation will be improved and the law will be applied. “It is okay as long as they follow the rule of law, they respect everybody, there will be no sacred cows and they will uphold the law," he said. The CBCP cited news reports that the AFP completed over the weekend the pullout of the 1st Marine Brigade in Isabela, Basilan. The CBCP said the Marines pulled out from the area will reportedly be transferred to Central Mindanao, a stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Set to replace the Marines in Basilan are troops from the Special Operations Task Force (SOTF) of the Army’s Special Operations Command. –VVP, GMANews.TV