PEACE TALKS ON DESPITE SALAMAT’S THREAT. Despite the "total war" order supposedly issued by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Hashim Salamat, the government will still proceed with peace negotiations with the separatist rebels.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Eduardo Ermita said yesterday that the government will proceed with peace talks with the MILF after President Arroyo secured the commitments of Malaysia and Libya in supporting the government’s efforts.
At the same time, Ermita aired his doubts on the veracity of the radio message of Salamat to his MILF commanders to launch total war against the government. He said that even MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar, in a radio interview, denied the total war order. "I heard Ghadzali Jaafar say this. So I don’t believe in such alleged MILF plans of total war, human bombs or suicide bombs," Ermita said.
Ermita said Jaafar also aired suspicions that a "third party" was behind the recent spate of bombings and killings in Mindanao, all aimed at derailing the peace process. While Jaafar was unable to identify the "third party," Ermita surmised that the MILF leader suspects communist New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas were behind the incidents "in order to pin the blame on the MILF." MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu repeatedly denied they were behind the recent spate of attacks in Central Mindanao, which left about 18 people killed and over 30 injured. Ermita, for his part, said he also suspected the communists had indeed carried out the attacks in order to push for the inclusion of the MILF, along with the NPA, in the international terror list.
So far, Ermita said, they have reason to believe the claims of the MILF central committee that it is ready to proceed with the peace talks since Malaysia and Libya have already committed to act as intermediaries. He said no less than Mrs. Arroyo got the official commitments during her bilateral talks last Monday in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Mohammed Shalgem. Mrs. Arroyo had separate talks with Mahathir and Shalgem at the sidelines of the 13th Summit meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) held in Kuala Lumpur.
Ermita underlined the commitment made by Malaysia and Libya since the two countries are member-states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which is pushing calls for peace in Mindanao. He said the MILF cannot afford to displease Malaysia and Libya. "Otherwise, they (MILF) would lose their allies in the OIC. They would (also) lose the strategic support of these OIC countries."
Source: Philippine Star, 26 February 2003
MILF COUNTERATTACKS; 16 GOV'T SOLDIERS DEAD. Muslim separatist rebels counterattacked in at least four towns in two provinces in the Central Mindanao region Tuesday, killing 16 government soldiers and wounding 15 others.
"If you're asking if it was us who perpetrated it, yes, it was the MILF," Moro Islamic Liberation Front spokesperson Eid Kabalu said in a telephone interview. The first attack was in Central Langkung in Matanog town in Maguindanao province shortly after Monday midnight, leaving a soldier dead and another wounded. At 3 a.m. Tuesday, MILF rebels attacked a Philippine Army command post in the village of Upper Salbu in Shariff Aguak town, also in Maguindanao. Five soldiers were killed while three others were wounded.
About two hours later, three soldiers were killed while an undetermined number was wounded when rebels attacked the 26th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Kauswagan town in Lanao del Sur province. About 50 rebels also attacked a military detachment in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao at about the same time. No one was reported hurt. At around 11 a.m., another group of rebels ambushed a military truck in Matanog town in Maguindanao, killing seven government troops and wounding 11 others.
In all the attacks, Kabalu said, only one MILF rebel was killed while "none was wounded." Kabalu said the slain MILF member was one of those who launched the Kauswagan attack. "This is part of the MILF's active defense," Kabalu said. "Ground commanders were given the autonomy to decide and execute action suited to their respective localities, but with one major condition: Civilians should be spared."
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 19 February 2003
GOV'T TROOPS TAKE OVER 'MANSION' OF TOP MILF LEADER. Government troops seized control Sunday of what a ranking general called the "mansion" of rebel leader Salamat Hashim, located inside the Buliok complex.
The house, believed to be worth millions of pesos, also served as the command center of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after the fall of Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao, Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, told reporters. The abandoned building and three nearby huts apparently used as Muslim prayer areas were in a heavily fortified compound that was ringed by deep trenches and concrete fences with barbed wire. The compound was shielded from the air and on the ground by banana and coconut trees.
The Buliok complex is a vast, marshy area straddling the provinces of North Cotabato and Maguindanao, which the military said it captured late last week in a major offensive involving thousands of soldiers and Marines. Armed Forces spokesperson Col. Essel Soriano said 157 rebels, five soldiers and one government militiaman were killed in the fighting. But MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu claimed only 40 guerrillas were killed, including 35 Thursday in a clash in Sultan Kudarat province, in the single biggest guerrilla loss in recent memory. Military deaths and injuries are now "by the hundreds," Kabalu claimed.
Kabalu denied that Salamat maintained a house or command post in Buliok and added the military may have found a Muslim prayer center. The rebel documents were "planted" by military officials to justify the military assaults, which were actually a violation of a cease-fire agreement, he said. He acknowledged many MILF guerrillas abandoned their strongholds in Buliok because of the overwhelming number of military forces.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 17 February 2003
CHILDREN OF WAR NEED TOYS, CRAYONS, BOOKS. Children displaced by war -- like the thousands now huddled in the cramped evacuation centers of Pikit, North Cotabato -- need more than just food, shelter or clothing.
They also need toys, modeling clay, crayons, and kiddie reading material -- anything that can help them "ventilate their trauma", said Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman of the Department of Social Welfare and Development on Thursday. The latest report from the National Disaster Coordinating Council only added to the urgency of Soliman's appeal.
The NDCC on Thursday estimated the number of evacuees to have risen to 58,236-almost 20,000 of whom come from Pagalungan town, Maguindanao. As of Wednesday, as much as 20 percent of the Pikit evacuees were children in the formative years, ranging from newly born infants to 6-year-olds, she said.
The military offensive in the Liguasan Marsh area, which started in Pikit, was the worst in terms of the number of evacuees, North Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Talino-Santos said. Santos reported that for the first time, the evacuees included a "visible'' number of able-bodied men -- indicating, she said, that the Pentagon kidnap gang, which is the target of the offensive, has lost the support of local residents. In the past, she said, the evacuees usually consisted of children, women and elders.
The evacuees came from seven towns in North Cotabato, one in South Cotabato and two towns in Maguindanao. The affected North Cotabato towns were Tulunan, Pres. Roxas, Carmen, Kabacan, Pikit, Pigkawayan and Midsayap. In South Cotabato, the NDCC counted 103 evacuees from Banga. In Maguindanao, 19,702 persons fled their homes in Pagalungan while another batch of 1,640 came from SK Pendatun.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 14 February 2003
MINDANAO FIGHTING ESCALATES; 127 MUSLIM REBELS SLAIN. Fighting in central Mindanao spread to a third province Friday, raising the death toll to at least 127 rebels and four government soldiers killed since Tuesday.
The major encounter in Lambayong town in Sultan Kudarat province raised fears that the offensive against rebel positions in the neighboring provinces of North Cotabato and Maguindanao could no longer be confined to the Liguasan Marsh, a vast marshland known to be an enclave of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Government officials had accused the MILF of massing up near Pikit town in North Cotabato in preparation for retaliatory strikes if the United States pushed ahead with an attack on Iraq.
The military offensive against the," a kidnapping-for-ransom "Pentagon gang" and the MILF, which is accused of harboring the criminals, is on its fourth day. The clash in the village of Tinumigis in Lambayong, which started at about 9 a.m. Friday, left at least 35 rebels dead. Colonel Agustin Dima-Ala, 301st Infantry Brigade commander, said the bodies of 35 rebels were recovered from the site. A TV report put the number at 41. Four militiamen and three civilians were also killed in the clash, which left two soldiers wounded, Dima-Ala added.
Rebel fighters escaped by taking 20 civilians hostage and using them as a human shield, other military officials said. All of the Lambayong hostages were released by mid-afternoon Friday. At least four other armed encounters took place in North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces since Wednesday night. An undetermined number of civilians were taken hostage in at least one encounter, and remained in captivity Friday night.
Officials said the fresh clashes and the hostage-taking were an attempt by the MILF to escape a massive military offensive to capture the Buliok complex, one of largest rebel strongholds in Mindanao. The campaign to overrun the complex, an MILF village near Pikit town that the military alleged to be a Pentagon gang sanctuary, resumed at 6 p.m. Wednesday when Army artillery and Air Force planes started pounding known rebel locations in the 200-hectare complex.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the MILF hierarchy had given local commanders a free hand in determining what military action to take. He said this explained the spread of the clashes to other parts of Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces. Kabalu said the MILF would avoid harming unarmed civilians.
Soriano said the casualty toll included 127 rebels and four soldiers dead, with 22 more soldiers wounded. Kabalu confirmed the death of many MILF fighters in the Lambayong action.
All told, Kabalu said, the MILF suffered 33 fatalities and six injured since fighting erupted on Tuesday. He also said the MILF killed 56 government soldiers, including an Army captain, as of noon Friday.
Another major encounter was a major skirmish to control the North Cotabato highway, fought near the village of Takepan in Aleosan town. Colonel Carduzo Luna, commander of the Army's 602nd Infantry Brigade, said about 100 MILF fighters tried to cross the highway in Aleosan around 5:30 a.m. Friday.
Fearing an escalation in the fighting, the military briefly closed a major road linking Pikit in North Cotabato with other provinces in Mindanao. Vehicular traffic was snarled for up to two kilometers as residents waited with their belongings to be evacuated to safer places. The military said it would close the road again to prevent rebels from taking hostages.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 14 February 2003
JOINT CEASEFIRE COMMITTEE TO CONVENE ON WEDNESDAY. A joint ceasefire committee of the government and the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic National Liberation Front (MILF) will meet Wednesday in North Cotabato province in Mindanao after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the military Tuesday to cease an offensive against at least a thousand MILF rebels and suspected kidnappers camped near Pikit town in North Cotabato, Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza announced.
Emerging from an emergency meeting with defense and military officials in Malacanang Tuesday night, Dureza said military and police officials would meet with local MILF commanders to discuss and defuse the Pikit standoff. Dureza said Ms Macapagal ordered a stop to the fighting in five villages in the Liguasan Marsh, a known MILF enclave. "The Pikit operation is giving us problems," he said. "The President has ordered the (military) to stop the fighting. I am convening the ceasefire committee tomorrow (Wednesday) in Cotabato City at noon with local leaders and MILF commanders."
The President's order came several hours after Army artillery and helicopter gunships pounded an MILF camp and a clash that began at 6 a.m. left at least seven rebels and two soldiers dead. Six other soldiers were wounded. In a media briefing Tuesday night, Dureza said the President had ordered the ceasefire mainly in observance of the end of the Muslim hajj. In the same briefing, however, Armed Forces chief of staff General Dionisio Santiago said that despite the ceasefire, government troops would not move from their current position.
Santiago said he wanted the MILF to withdraw instead to a distance where they couldn't fire their mortar anymore. Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio Bunye said Malacanang feared the encounter would derail the peace talks. A provincial official, who asked not to be identified, said the military's objective was "to pre-empt any MILF retaliation if the United States attacks Iraq."
In Zamboanga City, Southern Command chief Lieutenant General Narciso Abaya told reporters Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes had given verbal instructions for the military to stop the firefight until midnight Tuesday because Muslims were observing the end of the hajj.
MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu denied the rebels instigated the fighting. The military began shelling MILF positions shortly after breakfast and immediately moved ground troops, he added. While the MILF leadership will still engage Manila in peace talks, Kabalu warned: "We will not allow this (military assault) to win."
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 14 February 2003
MILF LEADER, 6 REBELS CAUGHT IN BUKIDNON. Army troops killed and wounded an undetermined number of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas during fierce fighting in a remote barangay in Bukidnon last Monday.
After hours of running gunbattle, the soldiers captured top MILF commander Ayog Abdullah and six of his men. Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya, military Southern Command chief, said the troops were on combat patrol when they encountered more than 100 heavily armed MILF guerrillas in the mountains of Barangay Angga-an in Damulong town. Abaya said the guerrillas fled to the mountains near the Bukidnon-Maguindanao border, bringing along the wounded with them.
Meanwhile, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said yesterday Pentagon kidnap gang leader Tahir Alonto is hiding in a hinterland barangay in Bukidnon near the border with North Cotabato.
Datu Norodin Lucman, a prominent Muslim leader and historian in Lanao del Sur, said the MILF has already acquired portable surface-to-air missiles, and lethal medium and heavy anti-tank weapons. Speaking at the Citizens' Caucus at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City yesterday, Lucman said the MILF see the peace talks as a "one-way ticket to war" because they don't trust Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, the architect of the all-out war policy during the Estrada administration.
Lucman said Reyes orchestrated the perceived links of the MILF with the terrorist group al-Qaeda to goad the US government into tagging the MILF as a terrorist organization. Lucman said US troops in Mindanao might be caught in the middle of fighting between the Armed Forces and the MILF and trigger a shootout between the Americans and the Moro rebels.
Source: Philippine Star, 29 January 2003
MISUARI ENTERS NO PLEA IN REBELLION TRIAL. Professing his innocence, Moro leader Nur Misuari on Thursday refused to enter a plea to charges he had orchestrated the bloody mutiny by hundreds of his followers in Jolo, Sulu, in November 2001.
This prompted Judge Norberto Y. Geraldez of Calamba [Laguna] Regional Trial Court Branch 36 to enter a plea of "not guilty" in Misuari's behalf. The arraignment, which finally pushed through after four postponements since April 2001, was held in continuance, however, after three of Misuari's seven co-accused -- including his spiritual adviser Abu Usman -- protested that they could not understand the proceedings in English or Tagalog. Their arraignment has been reset for Jan. 30.
Misuari's refusal to enter a plea followed a heated debate between government lawyers led by State Prosecutor Peter Ong and Leo Dacera and his defense team led by former congressman Homobono Adaza. Ong and Dacera said they would oppose any move by Misuari's lawyers to have Geraldez removed from the case, for his perceived bias against Misuari. Adaza said the judge should not have entered a plea on Misuari's behalf since the Department of Justice had not yet ruled on a petition for review of the rebellion case, which the defense had sought.
But Acting Justice Secretary Ma. Merceditas N. Gutierrez had junked the petition for review on Jan. 6, although a copy of the ruling had yet to be received by Misuari's lawyers. Adaza then approached the prosecutors and urged them to allow newly appointed Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong to review Gutierrez's resolution junking Misuari's petition for review.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 10 January 2003