COTABATO CITY, 5 May 2003 - Hundreds of separatist guerrillas swooped down on the southern town of Siocon shortly after midnight yesterday, occupying parts of the town center and setting the public market on fire.
The fierce raid by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels left 22 people dead and 23 others wounded in the predominantly Christian mountain town in Zamboanga del Norte province, about 780 kilometers south of Manila, officials said.
The guerrillas fired on houses, seized the town hall, a hospital and a public market - then fought army troops, killing two soldiers and wounding seven others, said Lt. Col. Renoir Pascua, spokesman for the military Southern Command.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said among those confirmed killed so far were two army soldiers, six policemen and eight civilians. "We also recovered the bodies of six rebels," he said.
Troops regained control of the town hall, hospital and public market by noon, but gunbattles continued through mid-afternoon. Attack helicopter gunships later chased the attackers into the hinterlands of Siocon.
Lucero said the retreating rebels took 15 residents hostage, including relatives of Siocon mayor Cesar Soriano. Four remained in captivity as of midnight last night.
"This is a classic case of terrorism," Lucero said. "They're creating an atmosphere of helplessness among the defenseless populace."
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the attack, led by Commander Maulana Mapadtawa, was directed at the army's 44th Infantry Battalion headquarters.
He said the rebels would keep attacking unless officials meet their demands, including the return of a captured MILF camp, the withdrawal of criminal charges against rebel leaders and government recognition of their camps.
"We hit where the enemy is weak," Kabalu told The Associated Press by telephone. "Our commanders assessed that weakness in Siocon and surprised them."
The MILF had been fighting for an Islamic state in the Philippines' impoverished and volatile south for about three decades.
Kabalu said their fighters caught the army napping and killed about 50 soldiers.
"We suffered only 11 wounded and two killed," he told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.
The claim could not be independently confirmed.
He denied charges that the attackers took hostages. He said civilians were assembled in the town center to protect them from being caught in the crossfire.
Southcom chief Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko said soldiers were able to recover most of the 15 civilian hostages, including mayor Soriano's wife Perliza and their daughters - Nicole, 7, and Paika, three months old.
He said one of the hostages was Constantino Soriano, a brother of the mayor.
Kabalu said the MILF was not targeting the Soriano family, "because Cesar is very close to us; he is one of our special friends."
Military spokesman Lucero also charged that the rebels had been extorting money from Siocon residents, many of whom make a living by panning for gold in the mineral-rich area.
There have been previous attacks in the town after the villagers refused to hand over money.
Siocon is considered by the military as one of the hotbeds of Muslim separatist insurgency in the province.
The Zamboanga del Norte Revolutionary State Committee of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has a camp in the town that is recognized by the government.
Soriano has called Siocon a "paradise" because it has vast tracts of rice fields, and rich seas.
The gold-rich mountain in barangay (village) Canatuan has also become the battleground of small-scale miners allegedly supported by the mayor and already mining in the area, and TVI Philippines, a Canadian mining firm which holds a Mining Production Sharing Agreement issued by the government.
The attack came less than a day after Norberto Gonzales, presidential adviser on special concerns, announced that government and MILF negotiators would meet again this month to explore the possibility of resuming the formal peace negotiations.
Earlier last week, Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Razak called on the MILF to stop doing acts that are tantamount to terrorism. He also urged the separatists to drop their demand for independence and instead opt for autonomy.
MILF leaders rejected Nazib's advice, saying independence is what they really want. (With Inputs from AP, INS)
