Military won’t attack Moro rebels

Saturday, October 22, 2011
MANILA — The Philippine military has no plans of attacking Moro rebels in Basilan where 19 soldiers were killed, saying peace talks between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) remains important.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deputy chief of staff for operations Brigadier General Jose Mabanta said Friday that President Benigno Aquino III gave them explicit instructions to forego pursuit of Moro rebels responsible for the clash that killed 25 people in Al-Barka town, Basilan, Tuesday.
The President, said Mabanta, stressed that “the conduct of the operation at this point against the MILF should not be pursued because of the existing ceasefire.”
He stressed, however, that the other lawless elements and the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao are “entirely a different ball game.”
“First and foremost is [peace talks]. Eventually, we want to attain peace and we have to wait. We can’t take actions. We have to assess really the situation,” he said.
Mabanta also downplayed fears that the President’s instructions will lead lower morale of the military.
“We have to continue to perform our mission… All of us soldiers, (when) we took our oath, we pledged to act and become soldiers. This is already part and partial of our job and if we are fallen, as some of our comrades happened to be, then let it be, it’s part of our job,” he said.
Mabanta also said that President Aquino, during a command conference with top military officials Friday, expressed dissatisfaction with the military after mounting losses this month against communist rebels, secessionist groups, and terrorists.
The Basilan encounter, which also injured 14 soldiers, was followed by a series of attacks by MILF in Zamboanga Sibugay that killed seven soldiers and policemen and wounded eight others.
“He expressed dissatisfaction [over] the series of events that has happened, starting with the Taganito activity or incident…He was dissatisfied with the performance of the Armed Forces,” Mabanta said, referring to the attacks on the Taganito Mining Corp. last October 3.
The President, he added, instructed the military to step up and improve its operations.
’Peace talks should continue’
Several lawmakers agreed with the President, with senators from Mindanao calling for the resumption of peace talks between the government and MILF.
Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chairman of the Senate committee on peace and reconciliation, said the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (Ajag) should act quickly to defuse tension.
Lawyer Marvic Leonen, chairman of the government panel dealing with the MILF, said he already directed the CCCH to look into the clash in Basilan that left 19 soldiers dead.
“Despite several major conflicts, the mechanism allowed the peace talks to continue and move forward for 14 years. I appeal to all sectors in our society, to allow the ceasefire mechanisms to work,” Guingona said.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, for his part, called on the MILF to heed Mindanao’s desire for peace and lay down their arms.
The senator, who is from Cagayan de Oro, said in a press statement that “senseless violence and killings must stop. That is the wish of our Muslim brothers and sisters and everyone in Mindanao.”
A temporary ceasefire is in place and the government peace panel has been meeting with the MILF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in recent months.
“Political negotiations should continue, but perhaps with ironclad guarantees that both sides should refrain from violence under any circumstances, to prevent a repetition of armed clashes that undermine the peace process,” he said.
Senator Gregorio Honasan, a former military officer, also pushed for the peace talks despite hostilities.
“We shouldn’t give up on the peace process but more importantly, there should be a long-term comprehensive peace policy in place. Every time we go into peace talks, it just becomes a vicious cycle of: peace talks, then violation of the peace talks, then encounters, then peace talks again,” he said.
’Suspend ceasefire agreement’
At the House of Representatives, however, former AFP chief of staff and now Muntinlupa City Representative Rodolfo Biazon called for the suspension of the government’s ceasefire agreement with the MILF.
“Suspend the peace talks immediately…Kailangang papanagutin muna ang mga nasa likod ng pagkamatay ng mga sundalo natin bago ang peace talks (The perpetrators should first pay before the peace talks will be resumed),” he said.
Davao del Sur Representative Marc Douglas Cagas IV said the Moro rebels “cannot go to the negotiating table with dirty hands.”
San Juan City Representative Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, for his part, said that since it is the MILF who violated the ceasefire, the government should order an “all-out assault” on the rebel group.
Deputy Speaker and Zamboanga City Representative Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar urged the government to apprehend the perpetrators of the ambush with dispatch to give justice to the slain soldiers.
“The military and PNP (Philippine National Police) should continue with law enforcement mission. Heinous crime is not justifiable under rebellion. Cases should be filed in court,” she said. “Our sympathy to martyr soldiers who gallantly died in the fields of battle. Let us not make their deaths go in vain.”
Salazar mobilized her staff Friday to render assistance to the families of the fallen soldiers, as well as those who were injured in the firefight.
Close to one hundred fresh troops also arrived Friday morning in Zamboanga City for deployment to Basilan. The troops are composed of Special Forces who belong to the Philippine Army’s Special Operations Command.
They arrived aboard the military C-130 transport plane that transported the 19 soldiers killed last Tuesday in Sitio Bakisung, Cambug village in Al-Barka, Basilan.
Full military honors
Three of the slain soldiers were flown Friday to Davao City, while one was transported to Cagayan de Oro City and the rest to Manila.
The fallen soldiers were given full military honors by their comrades upon arrival at the airports in Davao City and Cagayan de Oro, while the remains of 15 soldiers killed in Tuesday’s clash were given full military honors at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.
The bodies of the 15 soldiers were flown to Manila Friday afternoon on board an Air Force C-130, which arrived at the Villamor Airbase around 6:30 p.m.
In Davao City, the AFP gave the families of each victim P250,000 from the Financial Social Fund. A full scholarship will also be provided for the children or siblings of the slain soldiers.
The Philippine Army is also giving at least P100,000 to each of the dead soldiers, along with the six-month basic pay, another P10,000 from the Special Forces Regiment, P50,000 from the MBAI, monthly pension for AFPSLAI members, and a house and lot. This is aside from the P50,000 burial assistance.
To those displaced in the clash, the government said it is still trying to find new homes for them.
Residents of North Cotabato, meanwhile, said they will arm themselves against the MILF. The rebels overran several towns in the province when hostilities commenced.
Senator Panfilo Lacson earlier Friday told reporters that President Aquino should “do an Erap,” referring to former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada’s “all-out” war against the MILF in 2000.
Aquino said, however, that he would not resort to ordering an Army offensive against the MILF rebels who killed the 19 soldiers despite a clamor for his administration to take tougher action.
He said breaking a truce with the rebels and resuming outright war would not benefit anyone. (Jonathan de Santos/Kathrina Alvarez/Ben Tesiorna of Sun.Star Davao/Bong Garcia/Sunnex)
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/10/22/military-won-t-attack-moro-rebels-186405

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