MILF rebuilding its forces – Army field commanders
By Jaime Laude
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is rebuilding its forces,
taking advantage of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to up its
recruitment efforts for a planned counteroffensive, military field
commanders said yesterday.
"We are anticipating another bout with them after Ramadan. They
really want a second bout because they were humiliated by their
setbacks here in North Cotabato," a field commander who declined to
be named said.
He said the MILF has stepped up its recruitment even as it continues
to bury its more than a hundred fighters killed in the military
offensive in the past weeks.
Ground reports from the Liguasan Marsh told of the stench of rotting
corpses of MILF fighters and how their surviving comrades were
rushing to collect and bury them.
He said some of the guerrillas have broken into smaller groups and
blended with civilians.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Alexander Yano earlier ordered field
commanders to be always on guard for possible MILF attacks following
President Arroyo's decision to dissolve the peace panel.
The military said MILF rebels fired at a military outpost midnight
Thursday in Barangay Ganta in Kabuntulan, Shariff Kabungsuan,
triggering a 15-minute firefight. No casualties were reported.
"We expect the worst but we are prepared," Philippine National
Police Regional Director Chief Superintendent Federico Capuyan said
in Iligan City.
"The MILF cannot blackmail the government to wage an all-out-war, "
Maj. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, chief of the Army's 1st
Infantry "Tabak" Division, said. "The MILF wants a protracted war to
give the government a big problem."
At Malacañang, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said it was the
MILF's "lack of sincerity" that prompted Mrs. Arroyo to dissolve the
peace panel.
"Turning point is the realization of the government that there is
lack of sincerity on the part of the MILF," Dureza told a news
briefing. "Since they (MILF leaders) said they can't turn over those
who committed acts against civilian communities, that is the turning
point that led to the paradigm shift in the peace process," he said.
In Bacolod City, deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said
the dissolution of the peace panel is not the end of the peace
negotiations but rather a new perspective in the government's
approach to talking peace with the MILF.
"We cannot discuss peace when the other party is pointing a gun at
us," he said.
GMA decision backed, scorned
House allies have expressed support for President Arroyo's
dissolution of the peace panel.
"The President made the correct decision," Speaker Prospero Nograles
told members of the Manila Overseas Press Club. "In our honest
assessment, the panel has brought more problems than solutions.
"We would like to have lasting peace where we are talking to the
right people and the people negotiating with us are those who can
enforce the chain of command in their areas," he said.
Baguio City Rep. Mauricio Domogan said, "Her message is loud and
clear. She is the President and she runs this country. Nobody can
tell her what to do."
The vice chairman of the House committee on justice added that "the
government cannot talk peace with a group who's engaged in violence."
Malabon-Navotas Rep. Alvin Sandoval, for his part, said the
atrocities committed by some MILF commanders as well the refusal of
the rebel group's leadership to turn them over to authorities have
raised serious doubts about the MILF's sincerity.
"It's very sad because the surrender of the commanders could have
been an act of goodwill on the part of the MILF leadership to show
their commitment to peace," Sandoval, vice chair of the House
committee on transportation, said.
A senior Muslim lawmaker called on senators yesterday to stop
making "theatrical juramentado acts" by demanding punishment for
peace process adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and members of the
dissolved peace panel.
"I think senators should not go overboard with their criticisms
because words like those they said do not contribute one bit to the
peace process," Anak Mindanao Rep. Mujiv Hataman said.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan earlier said the members
of the peace panel "should take the cue from the Japanese and resign
or commit hara-kiri."
