ZAMBOANGA CITY, 12 March 2007 — Moro separatist guerrillas yesterday rescued seven of their comrades who were arrested at a military checkpoint by seizing about two dozen government soldiers in the southern Philippines, an official said.
Marine Maj. Gen. Mohammad Dolorfino, a member of the government peace panel, confirmed that the military freed the seven Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) men to end a standoff after the rebels seized an entire army detachment in Lanao del Sur province.
“All the hostages are freed. Everything is alright now,” said Dolorfirno, explaining that the arrest of the seven MILF men was a result of a misunderstanding.
The government has a standing cease-fire agreement with the MILF as the two sides continue to negotiate a political settlement to end decades of fighting in the southern Philippines.
As a confidence-building measure, the MILF has agreed to assist government forces in pursuing bandits and other criminal or terrorist groups straying into their territory.
The MILF yesterday said seven of their fighters were carrying out that commitment to cooperate in pursuing bandits.
They were on their way to a police station in Lumba Bayabao town of Lanao del Sur to hand over a bandit they had arrested when army troops intercepted them and held them for illegal possession of firearms.
In retaliation, other MILF fighters seized a military detachment and held more than 20 soldiers, Dolorfino said.
After a series of negotiations, both sides agreed to release all hostages.
The good thing was that the standoff did not escalate into a full-blown confrontation, Dolorfino said.
“We have resolved the problem and it only shows that the cease-fire mechanism between the military and the MILF is really working. The rebels and the soldiers even shook hands after their release,” Dolorfino told Arab News.
He said the MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, has been working closely with the government through the ad-hoc joint action group to track down criminals and terrorists.Last year, the MILF rescued a kidnapped nine-year old girl, Donna May Ramos, in Basilan island after rebels stormed the hideout of kidnappers in the hinterlands and arrested two men.
In July last year, MILF rebels also freed a kidnapped social worker, Henry de Guzman, in the southern province of Lanao del Norte barely a day after bandits seized him.
The rebel group also provided the government of a list of suspected Filipino and Indonesian terrorists operating in Mindanao. It previously helped Philippine authorities track down and arrest suspected Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants in the troubled region.
