Operation Terminal Velocity, the final phase of the military campaign to reassert Philippine sovereignty over the areas occupied by the MILF, proved successful after Camp Abubakar, the "center of gravity" of the MILF organization, was captured in early July 2000. Then-President Joseph Estrada himself visited the captured Muslim rebel camp and raised the Philippine flag there, "in assertion of sovereignty". He brought truckloads of lechon and beer for the government troops, earning criticism from both devout Muslims and Catholic clerics for his insensitivity.
