Time running out for MILF, says Arroyo
GENERAL SANTOS -- President Arroyo vowed Monday
to hunt down those responsible for Saturday's bombing at the Koronadal public
market and bring them to justice.
"Even as we hold the option of peace talks open, we will hunt down the
bombers," Arroyo read a one-page statement shortly after visiting the
scene of the blast in
She also warned the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country largest
Muslim separatist group and a suspect in the bombing, it has only a little time
left to prove its sincerity in seeking a peace settlement with the government.
Late Monday, Arroyo's top security advisers met to decide whether to nail shut
the door for peace talks with the largest Muslim separatist rebel movement in
the country.
Arroyo said the rebel group should clearly state whether it is allied with
terrorist cells like the Abu Sayyaf, the Jemmah Islamiyah or the Al Qaeda or
unequivocally reject them.
"We have patiently tried the road of principled peace talks. But we were
rebuffed by bombing after bombing. There are many leaders who believe we must
take that road at all cost, but I cannot take it if there's such a risk of
putting the lives of Filipinos in greater peril," she said during her
visit to Koronadal in South Cotabato, which was rocked by a bomb explosion that
killed 13 people and wounded dozens of others, some of them seriously.
Arroyo linked the bombing in Koronadal, where an improvised explosive devise
went off near the west wing of the public market, to the ongoing rebel attacks
in the countryside.
"There is an obvious link between the attack on isolated civilian
communities on the one hand and urban bombings on the other, both of which are
terrorist acts," Arroyo added.
Terrorist group
In
No official statement was expected to emerge after the meeting, which was
likely to be strained as some officials oppose the presidential proposal.
Arroyo last week suspended peace talks with the MILF and ordered punitive
actions against the 12,500-member group following a wave of rebel raids and
bombings in the country's south that have claimed nearly 100 lives since March
4, when a blast at Davao airport killed 22 people including a US missionary.
"Tagging the MILF outright as a terrorist organization will cause the
termination of the peace negotiations and the escalation of armed
conflict," said the Senate's defense committee chairman Ramon Magsaysay.
It would also give Manila cover to ask foreign governments to cut off support
to, and go after the assets of, the MILF in keeping with international accords
against global terrorism, said House of Representatives Member Prospero Pichay.
Foreign Secretary Blas Ople told reporters that he personally favored giving
the MILF 60 days to stop "any unprovoked attacks and atrocities against
civilians" as well as "manifest some degree of good faith in dealing
with the Philippine government."
Otherwise, he said, the government would have "the leeway to use all
available means to stop their atrocities."
Arroyo, meanwhile, said the MILF could no longer hide behind a "veil of
legitimacy" by seeking peace negotiations with the government while
continuing their terrorist activities.
Blackmail
Arroyo flew to the southern Mindanao region on Monday to stiffen the resolve of
towns and cities rocked by the latest barrage of violence linked to the 25-year
rebellion.
Speaking in Koronadal, Arroyo described the attacks as "blackmail of the
highest order."
Arroyo called on the people to step up on their vigilance and work with the
local government, the military and the police who are taking punitive
operations.
She said "to relax our guard now will only open more communities to
opportunistic attack."
She said all local government units should update their contingency plans and
assume full vigilance while the media are asked to cooperate and desist from
giving print space or airtime to "terrorist statement or overtures that
plead of a false cause or are aimed to confuse and mislead our people. Let us
not air terrorist propaganda in the guise of serving the ends of
objectivity."
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the classification of the MILF as a
terrorist group is still being studied and would be further discussed with the
members of the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (Cocis).
It was also brought up with representatives of the Organization of Islamic
Conference (OIC), whom Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople and Presidential
adviser on the peace process Eduardo Ermita met with 3 p.m. Monday to
officially update them on the development in Mindanao and inform them of the
MILF's involvement in terrorist activities.
Arroyo said she is deeply aggrieved by the continuing act of inhumanity that
has been committed in different parts of Mindanao and added that despite
earlier warnings from the government and law enforcement authorities of
possible attacks in the area, it is still sad especially if innocent and
peaceful communities are victimized.
Such attacks were meant "to force us to seek peace, in the hope that they
can buy time and allow the terrorists to spite us even more."
Flowers, prayers
The President visited the Koronadal Public Market in Alunan Avenue, site of the
latest bombing incident. Flowers, candles and prayers were offered for the
victims.
The visit was made hours after she went to Maigo in Lanao del Norte, which also
fell prey to terrorist attacks last April 24, and Siocon in Zamboanga del
Norte, where a bomb also exploded on May 4.
She was joined by Defense secretary Angelo Reyes, Interior secretary Jose Lina,
Jr., Social Welfare secretary Corazon Soliman and Southern Command commander
Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko.
In Siocon, Mayor Cesar Soriano briefed Arroyo on the efforts being done to
rehabilitate the province since the attack.
Soriano asked for assistance from the national government in completing the
rebuilding of the P4.5-million public market, which was destroyed during the
attack.
She gave a check for P5 million as aid to the Siocon government for the
construction of the public market while the remaining P500,000 would be used to
shoulder other expenses to be incurred in rebuilding the town.
Arroyo also visited the wake of the four policemen who died during the Siocon
attack and awarded a P100,000 check to each of the policemen's families in
addition to the scholarship assistance to their children. The policemen were
given the medal of valor awards.
She approved the setting up of a P400,000 scholarship trust fund for the
children of the other policemen and soldiers who were involved in the Siocon
incident and ordered the distribution of P10,000 assistance to the families of
those who died in the attack and P2,000 to those who were injured.
Arroyo also distributed cash assistance in Maigo to help in the rehabilitation
of the town and told residents there is no religious war between Christians and
Muslims.
Legitimate cause
Arroyo likewise asked for the full cooperation of the media in the government's
war against terrorism.
"Let us not air terrorist propaganda in the guise of serving the ends of
objectivity," she appealed.
"We are not terrorists," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu countered in a
telephone interview. "We have a legitimate cause."
He blamed the government for scuttling the peace talks. "There is not one
provision of our March 21 agreement that was implemented by the
government," Kabalu said.
He also insisted that the MILF already disowned connections with the Abu Sayyaf
and international terrorist groups Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.
"We even invited the government to investigate," Kabalu stressed.
He also chided the Arroyo administration for convincing the media to impose a
news blackout on the rebel group.
"It is unfortunate. It only shows that the Arroyo administration has no
other solutions to the conflict except the military approach," Kabalu
stressed.
Acts of terror
The MILF has also been blamed for bombing a second airport and a wharf as well
as sacking two other towns in the region since March.
Barely a week before Saturday's bomb attack in Koronadal, some 150 rebels
attacked Siocon, leaving behind more than 50 people dead, at least 10 of them
civilians.
Arroyo described the Siocon and Koronadal incidents as acts of terrorism.
While the president did not categorically blamed the MILF for the deadly
attack, she also told the rebel group that it "could no longer hide behind
the veil of legitimacy."
At least two persons had been arrested barely two days after the powerful blast
in Koronadal.
Nabbed by police authorities Sunday evening was Ryan Solampong while Alex
Luntayan, alias Bapa Alim, was arrested Monday morning.
Sarangani acting provincial police director Supt. Willie Dangane said in his
report that Luntayan is reportedly a suspect in the bombing at the public
market.
Luntayan, however, was not charged for the gruesome attack but for illegal
possession of firearms and ammunitions.
Police allegedly recovered two M-79 grenade launchers inside the house of
Luntayan in Navarro Subdivision. Also reportedly found in his possession were a
fragmentation grenade, two rifle grenades and assorted ammunitions.