The encounter between the NBI agents and a contingent of the 15th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army resulted in the filing of a case against the soldiers for direct assault, illegal search and violation of domicile. Meanwhile elements hostile to both parties and their sympathizers may be laughing behind their backs. The case is so strange if one takes pains to look closely into the incident. Let us start from the beginning.

A girl from Ambuan, Catigbian charged her uncle with acts of lasciviousness. It was not stated where the charge was filed. Any layman would assume that a complaint like this should have been filed in court, either with the Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Catigbian or in a Regional Trial Court. Those courts would assess the merits of the accusation and if found having probable cause, a case is filed and an arrest warrant is issued for a local law enforcing agency like the Philippine National Police of the town to execute.

How the case came to the hands of the National Bureau of Investigation is not clear. One is under the impression that the NBI handles only important cases like kidnapping, murder, and other major crimes. At any rate, an NBI agent and volunteer personnel happened to be at the house of the complainant who decided to drop the case. The NBI personnel were invited by the owner of the house to dinner, drinks and karaoke singing while waiting for another agent on a mission nearby.

The news item stated that there was indiscriminate firing, which prompted some of the residents to inform an army contingent. The indiscriminate firing story could be questionable. It is morally impossible for an NBI agent to indulge in shooting off his firearm just to impress people. The regular NBI agents we know and some of them are our friends, are highly dedicated, and highly disciplined professionals. Since the area has been identified as either rebel threatened or infested showing off would be an invitation to disaster. If may be also possible that there were gunshots but it would not come from the NBI.

It could be that the presence of armed men may have prompted the Ambuan citizens to report their presence to an army contingent. Responding soldiers assigned to a rebel infested area would take the necessary steps to neutralize the presumed threat by apprehending and if possible disarming the reported group. In a field such as a rebel-infested area, battle conditions apply. Any unidentified armed group is to be treated hostile until proven otherwise.

The rules of engagement for law enforcing agents could be different from the army. The rebels are more likely to shoot than the suspected criminals. In field operations, the law enforcers would try to capture or persuade the quarry to surrender while the soldiers tend to neutralize the enemy or destroy it To a soldier, any place where the enemy is can be considered a battleground. That is why the sanctity of domicile is often violated during operations.

The NBI may have legitimate reasons to be in Ambuan. The soldiers of the 15th Infantry Battalion consider Ambuan their field of operations and they too have legitimate reasons to be there. When two or more armed groups happen to be in the vicinity without being aware of the presence of the other, an encounter might happen. It did happen. It could have been avoided in the first place.