Estrada questions MILF's sincerity

President Estrada expressed doubts yesterday over the sincerity of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) a day after the guerrillas offered to return to the negotiating table a month into bloody clashes in Mindanao.

"Our leftist and separatist groups have asked for peace and we have been very patient about it for so long," the Chief Executive said in a speech at the anniversary of the Philippine Navy yesterday.

"But how else can you detect even the shadow of peace from minds who nurture disdain over democracy?" the President asked.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces has ordered the pullout of some 150 to 200 troops from the UN force in East Timor to reinforce troops fighting the MILF and the extremist group Abu Sayyaf.

As of yesterday, 132 government troops have been killed and 539 wounded in fighting in Mindanao.

Mr. Estrada said last Monday that he welcomed the MILF's announcement to return to stalled peace talks on May 30, after a month of fighting.

"While soldiers fall one by one on the bloodied soils of Mindanao, we ask ourselves if peace is the way to go," he said. "What good will peace be if it is compromised?"

The President mocked peace advocates who have criticized the strong military response to the insurgency in Mindanao in recent weeks.

"We should not waste time discussing what is politically correct once we hear the cries of pain and bewilderment of innocent children," he said.

Retired military and police generals urged the government to forget about peace negotiations and launch an all-out war against the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf.

"We strongly feel that the government should not negotiate with terrorists and should treat them like any other criminal with the use of force if necessary," the 600-strong Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO) said in a resolution issued yesterday.

The generals said the terrorist activities of the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf have projected a bad image for the country and the government abroad.

All avenues to peaceful negotiations have failed prompting the crisis committees to endorse the "military solution to the explosive situation" in Mindanao, the generals added.

The AGFO said the continued approach of "appeasement" with the rebels and terrorists has cast a cloud of doubt on the government's capability to guarantee the people's safety.

"Such act of appeasement has only abetted the growth and expansion of these anti-government armed groups which pose a great danger to the territorial integrity of our country and the sovereignty of our state," the generals said.

Although they did not directly ask that Camp Abubakar be attacked or the hostages be rescued, the generals called on the government to order the Armed Forces to push the offensive against rebels in Mindanao.

"Such dastardly acts perpetrated by the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf, which defy human comprehension, deserve a more serious response from our government, hence the use of the military against these disgraceful segments of the Filipino Muslim community is well acclaimed by all in our country and by other nations as well, including Muslim countries."

The AGFO resolution was signed by retired brigadier generals Felix Brawner and Rosalindo Alquiza, AGFO chairman and president, and corporate secretary, respectively

In Cotabato City, chief government peace negotiator Edgardo Batenga said the peace talks between the government and the MILF will focus on autonomy, the nine points the MILF proposed as parameters for the talks, and the repositioning of MILF guerrillas in Camp Abubakar.

"And the willingness of the MILF to return to the negotiating table is a good development," he said over radio yesterday.

Antonio Santos, president of the Metro Cotabato Chamber of Commerce, said many businesses here are experiencing staggering losses of from 50 to 90 percent of their capitalization.

"We now have the deterioration of the economy, low revenues and unemployment," he said. "The economy can only be revived if there is peace and the fostering peace in this troubled region lies mainly on two key players, the GRP and the MILF panels."

In Kapatagan, Lanao del Sur, Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio, commander of the 1st Marine Brigade, said Marines had reached the Langkong stretch of the Secretary Narciso Ramos Highway leading to Camp Abubakar last May 14 "without any resistance."

Maj. Gen. Roy Cimatu, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, said Langkong was free of MILF guerrillas when his men reached the area a day before MILF forces were ordered to retreat.

Troops from the 4th Infantry Division helped the Marines clear the Narciso Ramos Highway of MILF guerrillas and checkpoints.

Kapatagan Mayor Datu Muslimin Sema said the peace talks should give both sides a chance to reimpose and uphold the ceasefire while the talks are going on.

"We are hoping that the occasion will open each other's eyes to the painful truth that it is only by coming out with a negotiated settlement of the conflict that we can improve the lives of the people in Mindanao," he said.

Col. Rafael Romulo, Armed Forces spokesman, said the troops are expected to arrive from East Timor on June 21, but that they will be replaced by 129 soldiers, who are scheduled to leave on May 30.

"The (arrival of soldiers from East Timor) is actually part of the regular rotation of our troops there," he said. "But we might not send more personnel there because we are downsizing our presence there. The priority is always sending them to the frontlines in Mindanao."

Earlier, Lt. Gen. Jaime de los Santos, commander of the UN peacekeeping forces in East Timor, said he plans to reduce by 30 percent the number of Philippine troops stationed in the former Indonesian province.

About a thousand Filipino soldiers are in East Timor on a security and humanitarian mission.

Last week, at least seven battalions or roughly 3,000 soldiers from Luzon and the Visayas were sent to Mindanao to fight the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf. --