COTABATO CITY, 24 October — If the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) collapses, only the military are to blame.

Officials of the separatist group issued this warning yesterday as they complained of continuing offensive by government forces against their fighters in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, all in Central Mindanao.

“There is a bright prospect for a peaceful solution of the political problem in Mindanao. However, this bright prospect is dimmed by the AFP’s (Armed Forces of the Philippines) offensive military actions or incursion in some known MILF areas,” Al-Haj Murad, MILF vice chairman for political military affairs.

Murad, who heads the MILF panel talking peace with the government, said the MILF central committee strongly condemns these acts as a clear violation of the agreement for the cessation of hostilities signed on July 18, 1997.

The AFP’s Southern Command has claimed that at least 30 MILF guerrillas, Abu Sayyaf bandits and members of the Misuari Renegade Group (MRG) were killed in the week-long military operations in Lanao del Sur.

But MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said there is no basis for the military’s claim because there are no Abu Sayyaf or MRG forces in the Sultan Gumander area in Lanao del Sur.

The Abu Sayyaf is a bandit group with factions based in Basilan and Sulu. The MRG is reported to be a group composed of Moro National Liberation Front members loyal to former chairman Nur Misuari.

“These are MILF communities,” Kabalu said of the army’s claim that Abu Sayyaf, under Commander Isnilon Hapilon, were allowed entry in MILF territories in exchange for payment of money collected by kidnappers as ransom in Basilan and Sulu.

“We are revolutionary forces and we abhor the activities of Abu Sayyaf,” Kabalu told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.

Murad and Kabalu said the offensives in the boundaries of Shariff Aguak and Datu Piang in Maguindanao that began Monday clearly constituted violations of the cease-fire accord.

Maj. Julieto Ando, speaking for the army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the offensive in Shariff Aguak and Datu Piang was triggered by the massing up of MILF forces who, he alleged, planned to take control of the Cotabato-General Santos City highway.

“We have preempted their plans to seize the highway,” Ando said.

At least four MILF fighters were killed during the two-day skirmishes, Ando said. But this claim was quickly denied by Kabalu, saying the four MILF guerrillas were executed and were unarmed when accosted by soldiers in Datu Piang.

Earlier, Murad said the MILF peace panel has submitted the names of its members who will compose the Bangsamoro Development Agency as provided for in the implementing guidelines of an agreement signed in June last year.

“With this development, the MILF and the government, as parties to the agreement on peace, are going toward the right direction for the betterment of life in the conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.”

In Davao City, government chief negotiator and Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Affairs Jesus Dureza said it was more difficult to deal with military officials than the MILF. Dureza said it was easier for the panel to explain the mechanisms of how to achieve a lasting peace to the rebels than to senators, congressmen and even to top military officials.

In a briefing with participants of the Multi-sectoral Consultation of Government Peace Negotiating Panel (GPNP) for Talks with the MILF in Davao on Monday, Dureza said there were instances when government and military officials misunderstood the panel’s position to negotiate than go to war.

Some military officials, he said, would even object to calls to end hostilities because for them, negotiations would not achieve peace. “What is in their minds is to destroy the enemy,” Dureza lamented.

But despite the apparent setback, Dureza said the panel was determined to pursue the peace talks.