23 killed in new clashes between troops, MILF

 

COTABATO (AP) – Clashes erupted anew yesterday in Mindanao between government troops and Muslim guerrillas, leaving at least 23 people dead just days before the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it would begin a 10-day unilateral cease-fire.

 

About 70 guerrillas ambushed a group of militiamen near Upi municipality in Maguindanao province early Saturday, killing seven and wounding two, said Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division.

The rebels seized the weapons of the militiamen and escaped.

Troops backed by two M-520 attack helicopters pursued the guerrillas, killing 12. Sporadic gunbattles in the area continued for most of Saturday morning, he said.

"This is treachery toward their own pronouncement that there will be a cease-fire on Monday," Senga said.

In another encounter early Saturday, troops launched a strike on a rebel group planning to attack an army camp, killing four guerrillas and capturing six others in Datu Paglas town south of Upi, Senga said.

Troops recovered four assault rifles and three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, he said.

On Wednesday, the MILF announced a 10-day unilateral cease-fire starting June 2, but demanded the withdrawal of troops from guerrilla areas and the recall of arrest warrants for rebel leaders.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made a counter offer of a permanent truce leading to the signing of a final peace accord. She also demanded the rebels show sincerity.

On Thursday, rebels attacked two Army positions, killing at least five civilians nearby. Soldiers killed at least five of the attackers in Carmen town in North Cotabato province.

The attack, which came a day after the cease-fire announcement, angered Arroyo.

"We will not stand for double talk," she said in a statement Friday. "It is clear that the declaration of a cease-fire by the MILF is a ploy and a tactical ruse. ... Unless proof of sincerity is shown, punitive actions will continue."

The government earlier gave the rebels until Sunday to renounce terrorism, disavow links to terrorist groups such as the Jemaah Islamiyah, and turn in those responsible for raids and bombings that have killed more than 200 people this year or face being declared a terrorist organization.

MILF leaders have denied any connection to terrorist attacks.

The rebels have been fighting for Muslim self-rule in the southern Philippines for more than three decades.

 

Pimentel

 

 

Opposition Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. said yesterday US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone has confirmed to him that the United States is willing to mediate in the war in Mindanao but is worried about offending Malaysia, which has been brokering the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Pimentel said Ricciardone had told him of Washington's interest in playing a peace broker's role.

The former Senate president said that in separate conversations with Ricciardone and another US embassy official, he found out that the US is interested in acting as a peace negotiator "but their only concern was that Malaysia might feel offended."

Pimentel said he met Ricciardone at a wedding recently and that he met the other US official during a recent press forum on federalism that he espouses.

He said the American diplomat was only echoing a statement by US President George W. Bush that the US is prepared to help diplomatically and financially in the peace negotiations on condition that the MILF will stop its terrorist activities.

In September, 1996, Jakarta led other Muslim countries in brokering a peace agreement between the Philippine government and the secessionist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that ended the more than 30-year bloodletting in Mindanao.

The MILF later surfaced to continue the secessionist war.

Pimentel said the national government should also consult with the people of Mindanao on the possible entry of the US into the peace process.

The former mayor of Cagayan de Oro City had been pressing for the entry of the US in the Mindanao conflict after its successes in mediation in other countries, particularly in Northern Ireland.

Pimentel said the leadership of the MILF should assert its control over its forces on the ground to ensure that it can enforce its 10-day unilateral ceasefire that is supposed to begin tomorrow.

He said the fresh attacks on Army detachments and civilian populace resulting in the death of two civilians in Carmen, North Cotabato a day after the MILF declared the ceasefire "seriously undermined its credibility."

"If the rebel fighters will keep on launching attacks, you cannot blame the government for saying that the MILF is engaged in deceit," he said.

He said he has been appealing to both the government and the MILF to immediately forge a mutual ceasefire without conditions.

The moment either side or both sides impose conditions, the ceasefire may not take off the ground, he explained.

 

Gov't peace panel

 

 

COTABATO CITY - Five personalities, including national officials and Muslim leaders, have been endorsed to the top post of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) peace panel following the declaration of a unilateral truce by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) recently.

The five personalities included Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Eduardo Ermita, Sultan Kudarat Gov. Pax Mangodadatu, Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, and Maguindanao former vice governor Midpantao Midtimbang.

Reyes, endorsed by the Shariah Lawyers' Association of the Philippines led by Muslim jurist Colot Dagloc, joined the call for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to proclaim a ceasefire in Mindanao for bilateral truce.

The appointement of Ermita was suggested by Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong, an adviser to the state's peace panel, who said that Ermita's marriage to a Mindanaoan makes him an appropriate choice.

Gov. Mangodadatu, Mayor Sema and Midtimbang have been recommended by the Regional Peace and Order Council of Central Mindanao in a resolution it passed Friday in Sultan Kudarat.

The top GRP peace panel slot has been vacated by Presidential Assistant on Mindanao Affairs Jess Dureza on May 6 so that he can concentrate on his main task of steering government projects and programs in the south.

The MILF leadership has repeatedly said that the question of who should replace Dureza "does not matter" as long as the appointee enjoys a government mandate.

But when pressed to choose between Ermita and Reyes, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said he prefers the latter, saying that the defense chief has manifested in words and actions his tough policy while the former failed to reconcile his peace advocacy with his tendencies for war.

North Cotabato Gov. Manny Piñol downgraded Kabalu's preference for Reyes, saying it was another "good strategy by the MILF to neutralize a perceived hawk (the defense chief)."

If indeed the MILF wanted hardline-officials, the rebel group should recommend the inclusion of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Gov. Piñol in the GRP panel, the feisty North Cotabato chief executive said in jest.

Just like Reyes and Duterte, Piñol campaigns for continued punitive military drive against rebels and for local-level peace negotiations with the MILF. (Ali G. Macabalang)