ZAMBOANGA CITY, 18 December 2003 — Guns fell silent in the southern Philippines yesterday as Moro separatists forces and government troops returned to a cease-fire after a clash that killed at least 15 people, officials from both sides said.
“This is a welcome development, now we can move forward and talk peace,” said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman Eid Kabalu after confirming from rebel commanders that none of their units have been involved in clashes as of 10 p.m. Tuesday when the cease-fire took effect.
Gen. Narciso Abaya, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), flew to Mindanao Island yesterday to make sure that the truce is enforced.
He met with senior commanders in Maguindanao province, where fighting raged since Saturday.
Kabalu said the MILF is holding four soldiers captive and would hand them over this week to the government cease-fire committee headed by Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, the military deputy chief.
He said the four soldiers — Pfc. Alex Eumug, Pfc. Neil Cagal, and Privates Arnel Dibaudin and Wilfredo Castillo, are being held as prisoners-of-war by rebels in Datu Piang.
“We will hand them over to the government cease-fire committee this week. The four prisoners are being treated humanely,” Kabalu said.
He claimed that more than 20 soldiers were killed in the fighting, but military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero Lucero said only four had been killed in three days of fighting. The military said more than a dozen rebels were killed. Kabalu denied this, saying only 5 MILF fighters were wounded.
Both sides have blamed each other for provoking hostilities on Saturday.
The military said fighting broke out after MILF rebels attacked troops who were trying to stop members of the notorious Pentagon kidnapping gang from fleeing the area.
The military has accused the MILF of protecting the kidnappers.
Kabalu accused troops of attacking the group’s areas under the guise of pursuing Pentagon gang members believed to be holding a Chinese-Filipino trader.
General Garcia, however, said the fact that the fighting has subsided shows that the truce mechanism is working.
“We’re optimistic ... accusations and counteraccusations will be resolved in the cease-fire mechanism,” he told reporters.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on radio station DZRH that the fighting “was an isolated situation that will not derail the peace process.”
Formal peace talks, brokered by Malaysia, are expected to resume next month. Garcia said an advance team of Malaysian military observers is expected to arrive in early January to prepare for monitoring the truce.
Arroyo also said her government would submit to Congress a general amnesty bill to encourage insurgents, including MILF guerrillas, to return to the fold of the law. It wasn’t clear when the bill would be introduced.
The MILF has been fighting for an independent Muslim homeland. Clashes intensified earlier this year with a series of deadly bombings blamed on the rebels and the army’s seizure of a rebel camp in February.
