COTABATO CITY, 19 February 2004 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday accused the military of trying to disrupt the peace process as troops prepared to move into areas formerly occupied by separatist forces in the southern Philippines.
Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko, chief of the military’s Southern Command, said starting today, Marines would be moved into Pikit town in North Cotabato and to Pagalungan town in Maguindanao, both near the Buliok complex in the Liguasan Marsh.
Kyamko said the troop movements were in support of the military’s campaign against the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom group headed by Alonto Tahir, who are reportedly hiding in the area.
Tahir was being blamed for recent kidnappings in south-central Mindanao, including that of 52-year-old grocery owner Zoila Canse in Sultan Kudarat province.
On Tuesday, three suspected kidnappers were reported killed in a shootout with government troops during a rescue operation in the town of Sultan sa Barongis in nearby Maguindanao.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias said the clash occurred when troops raided a hideout of the suspects.
But the MILF said the victims of the “military cruelty” civilians, including a grade school student named Pilo from the Bulod Elementary School.
Separatist spokesman Eid Kabalu said the attack was another fresh attempt to derail plans to resume exploratory talks between the Philippine government and MILF. Talks are expected to take place anytime within the week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Kabalu said the MILF will file a formal protest before a joint secretariat of the Manila-MILF cease-fire panels against government troops for engaging in “ prohibited hostile acts.”
Kabalu also claimed that government troops attacked MILF positions in positions in the village of Timbabawan, in Tungawan town, Zamboanga Sibugay province yesterday. The military had no report about the alleged clash in Zamboanga Sibugay.
The two sides have signed a cease-fire agreement on Aug. 7, 2001, more than a year after heavy fighting that killed hundreds of combatants from sides in central Mindanao.
Despite the truce, sporadic fighting had erupted as government troops continued to cross into MILF positions, claiming pursuit of kidnap gang members.
Kabalu said the military’s real intentions were unmistakable, citing an alleged statement by former Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes that while the troops were deployed to flush out Pentagon kidnappers, “the operation’s final objective is to crush the MILF and occupy their areas.”
On Feb. 11 last year, the military attacked the complex, which the MILF has been using as its main base following the fall of Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao, because of the alleged presence of the Pentagon there.
The anti-Pentagon operation became a full-scale hostility between the military and the MILF and had triggered massive evacuation.
The violence spread to other parts of Mindanao, triggering the collapse of the off and on peace process.
When the government and the MILF agreed to talk again last year, the rebel group demanded, as a precondition, the pullout of soldiers from the Buliok complex.
The government “repositioned” the troops to other areas save for a team of army engineers working on road projects in the former MILF lair.
The total pullout of soldiers was the subject of recent discussions between the government and the MILF.
Kabalu yesterday said the redeployment of the Marines would not help strengthen the peace process.
He said the military could have easily asked the MILF to assist in running after the Pentagon, as embodied in previous agreements.
Kabalu warned that what happened in the past, including the mid-December clash in Datu Piang, Maguindanao, would be repeated.
