Pope prays for peace in Mindanao

Pope John Paul II prayed yesterday for an end to violence in Mindanao, calling on politicians and the military to find a peaceful solution to the Islamic insurgency.

"I pray for all the residents of that region and, in particular, for politicians and the military," he told thousands of pilgrims at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.

"I pray that God may enlighten them and move them to do everything possible to end the violence by seeking peaceful solutions to existing problems," he said.

"To the families who are suffering from this situation, I express my closeness and solidarity," the Pope added.

Fresh fighting erupted in Mindanao last week when Abu Sayyaf fundamentalist rebels seized a Catholic priest and 52 teachers and students in Sumisip town in Basilan. As of yesterday, the rebels were still holding 33 captives as negotiations for their release dragged on.

In Manila, President Estrada said yesterday Robin Padilla can be a courier in negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf, but turned down any negotiator's role for the action star.

The Chief Executive said the kidnappers were apparently getting confused as they kept on calling on movie personalities to negotiate with them, noting with sarcasm that they might ask for comedian Dolphy next.

"They are asking for almost anybody to be a negotiator," he said in Filipino in a radio interview yesterday. "At first they wanted Mr. Fernando Poe Jr., and now it's Robin Padilla. They might next call for Dolphy. They might be confused. Let's just leave them be."

Mr. Estrada said he does not object to the Abu Sayyaf's request that Padilla, who converted to Islam while serving time for illegal gun possession, be allowed to act as mediator for the hostages' safe release.

"If anyone can help, I would allow him," he said. "My only worry is that he (Padilla) has no personality to go there (Basilan). If the Abu Sayyaf would send a message through him (Padilla), I would listen to him. Everyone who can help is welcome to mediate for us."

The President has appointed Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, a long-time defense minister, as a member of the team negotiating with the Abu Sayyaf, which is now known as Al Harakatul Islamia.

In Basilan, the father-in-law of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani was named new chief negotiator for talks to free 33 hostages still held by Janjalani's band of terrorists.

Ustadz Hussin Manatad, a member of the Basilan Council of Ulamas, was appointed by the provincial crisis management committee to replace Basilan Rep. Abdulgani "Gerry" Salapuddin, who has resigned, said Christopher Puno, the committee's information officer.

Meanwhile, Basilan Gov. Wahab Akbar challenged the military yesterday to attack the Abu Sayyaf's hideout, and that of the kidnappers of Janjalani's family, which are believed to be both in the jungles of Basilan.

Akbar was reacting to the fighting between troops from the Army's 10th Infantry Battalion and the Abu Sayyaf's blocking forces in Sumisip town in Basilan last Monday and Tuesday.

In that battle, residents of at least three barangays south of Basilan, who are mostly farmers, women, and children, fled their homes, and have evacuated to the towns of Maluso and Isabela, the military said yesterday.

Killed in the fighting were a soldier, who was identified as Pfc. Durano, and three Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, including two commanders, said Southern Command spokesman Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias.

Covarrubias said three soldiers were also wounded in the fighting.

The fighting in Barangays Guiong and Central Sumisip, both in Sumisip town, had spilled over to the jungle in Upper Mahayhay in Maluso town and triggered mass evacuation, he added.

A provincial official, who requested anonymity, told The STAR the retreating guerrillas seized civilians whom they used as human shields against the advancing government forces.

"We are now facing two problems, one the safe recovery of the remaining hostages and the other is where to get food supplies to feed the evacuees," the official said.

Last Tuesday, the Abu Sayyaf warned the military that they would kill Fr. Roel Gallardo, a Catholic priest and one of the 33 hostages, if the military attacks Camp Abubakar in Sumisip again.

In another development, Abu Sayyaf guerrillas have stood firm on their earlier demand that the government allow Padilla to negotiate for the release of the hostages.

"It is useless to negotiate with other people if our trust is not with them," said Abu Sayyaf spokesman Asmad Allahuddin.

He warned that they will kill Fr. Gallardo and the male hostages, enslave the women, and that the children will be trained to be Abu Sayyaf fighters.

Some of the best Abu Sayyaf fighters were former hostages who were seized after the group's raid on Ipil town in Zamboanga del Sur on April 4, 1995, in which more than 50 people were killed and scores wounded, he added.

However, President Estrada said he will send the Army in an all-out war against the Abu Sayyaf if they push through with their threat to kill the hostages, and that the government will show no mercy.

"The Army is ready to strike them," he said. "So I'm giving that warning to them when they do something to the hostages. We cannot be intimidated, so we cannot be threatened. But I would like to send this message if they do that, something drastic will happen to them."

The Chief Executive also reiterated that the government will continue peace negotiations with separatist groups, especially the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and with the Abu Sayyaf as well if they want to join the talks.

"I have said it and I am repeating it that we are serious in making them (the rebels) feel that we only have one government and one Constitution," he said.

Mr. Estrada also challenged Gov. Nur Misuari of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao to help negotiate with the MILF to forge a peace agreement similar to the one the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) signed with the government in September 1996.

"If there is a need to use him (Misuari) and he takes the initiative, I will see to it that he would be able to help since he knows the leaders of the MILF," he said. "He should suggest on how he can help us but he has not told us what he can do."

In another development, the Army has deployed former MNLF fighters in Sulu to replace the Marines and to help the 20,000 civilians who were displaced by last week's fighting in the capital of Jolo.

Southcom chief Maj. Gen. Diomedio Villanueva said the MNLF integrees under the Army's 1st Division also conducted civic-military and relief operations apart from acting as a security force.

Villanueva said Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan has pledged P1 million in financial assistance to the war refugees who are temporarily living in a shelter, while the government is determining the number of houses to be built for them.

Misuari had promised 2,000 sacks of rice, and Lee Peng Wee, presidential consultant on Mindanao economic affairs, had donated at least 100 sacks of rice and 10,000 cans of sardines, he added.

Meanwhile, Tan said two people died and 20 were injured when fire engulfed Barangays Takut-Takut, Tulay, and Chinese Pier in Sulu last Thursday morning.

Investigations showed the fire occurred when an LPG tank exploded in Barangay Takut-Takut and the blaze rapidly spread to the two nearby barangays.

At the Senate, Sen. Robert Jaworski said the Abu Sayyaf would lose sympathy among Muslims if they decide to kill the defenseless hostages as Muslims would refuse to be identified with a group perceived to have lost respect for human life.

"Mistakes on the battlefield are not only about lost lives or lost ground," he said. "It is also about losing sympathy as you stop being the oppressed victim and have become the oppressive terrorist."

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense, on the other hand, said MILF Chairman Hashim Salamat is a confused leader who has mixed the concepts of federalism with that of autonomy.

"He (Salamat) seems to be confused as to what he is actually espousing for except for his persistent statement that he wants the whole of Mindanao to be carved out of the Republic and constitute an independent state," he said.

At the House of Representatives, Assistant Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Albano III said the situation in Mindanao is entirely different from that of East Timor as he reacted to an MILF proposal that the United Nations sponsor an East Timor-like independence vote in Mindanao.

"These provinces are not satellite areas, unlike East Timor, so there is no point of comparison," he said. "Both the Christians and our Muslim brothers have been living in these provinces for the past decades. and it's a well-known fact that our Muslim brothers are also scattered all over the country, including Metro Manila and many parts of Luzon and Visayas."

Sen. Francisco Tatad also rebuked the MILF leadership for raising the false hopes among its followers that Mindanao will be treated like East Timor.

"We therefore call upon the MILF leadership not to mislead its followers into believing that after the use of arms shall have failed, they would be able to carve a separate Islamic state for Camp Abubakar, via recourse to the United Nations," he said.

Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is also secretary of social welfare and development, is slowly becoming the darling of the masses and the abused people in society.

Acting Social Welfare and Development Secretary Belinda Manahan said Arroyo had already visited and returned safely from rebel-infested areas like Mindanao before she went abroad.

Arroyo flew to Mindanao to help families who were displaced by the fighting between government forces and Muslim extremist groups, Manahan said, adding that the Vice President is a frequent visitor to various impoverished areas nationwide to personally assess the government's mediation efforts.

"To be honest, she never uses the department to promote her political career," she said. "She avoids it. She does not want the name of the department to be dragged into politics."

Manahan said one significant program Arroyo had introduced as DSWD chief was the "Ahon Bayan," a resource generation project for social welfare services.

Launched in February 1999, the program has generated a total of P34 million from local and international donors to finance government and non-government projects nationwide, she added.

She said DSWD officials are able to reach out to the impoverished sectors of society, especially among secessionists in Mindanao or the communist rebels.

"We are the only ones who can freely go to the rebel-infested areas without being harmed or harassed because we're from DSWD," she said. "We are neutral and we are there to help them."

DSWD people are normally seen talking with rebels in far-flung areas in the course of their relief and rehabilitation operations, she added.

Arroyo is on a three-week official visit to China, Hong Kong and Israel to forge close bilateral ties. She will be back on the second week of April.

Manahan, who is the social and welfare development undersecretary for management, has been with the department for almost 30 years. -