The separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) intensified yesterday its attacks in Mindanao, leaving at least four people confirmed dead, scores wounded and about 100 others taken captive and used as human shields by the Muslim rebels.
There were conflicting reports on the fatalities in the bombings in General Santos City as military intelligence reports reaching the Armed Forces' Southern Command based in Zamboanga City indicated the death toll could reach up to 15.
The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) said six more civilians died in the crossfire yesterday in other parts of Mindanao.
A series of explosions rocked General Santos City as government forces were locked in fierce fighting in other parts of the island.
In Cotabato City, authorities were compelled to shut down the airport after a rocket-propelled grenade fired by the MILF guerrillas exploded beside the runway.
The blasts in General Santos occurred within minutes of each other at about lunch time.
Three of the victims reportedly died on the spot.
Two explosions took place at the city hall premises, followed by another at a public market, and still another at a nearby international seaport.
The blasts came hours after some 300 MILF guerrillas took over a bridge linking the city and Koronadal town in South Cotabato and held hostage about 70 bus passengers and motorists, who were later rescued by responding soldiers and policemen following a fierce gunbattle.
Authorities said a bomb concealed in plastic went off at the port, killing traders Primo Caballa and Carmencita Boncayo and wounding about 20 other people.
Almost simultaneously, a bomb planted inside a taxi exploded at a parking lot in front of city hall, killing tricycle driver Jaime Jenilla.
Police took in for questioning the taxi driver who claimed the explosive was possibly left in his vehicle by a passenger who got off at city hall.
Police said a total of 41 people were wounded in the blasts, among them city Councilor Franklin Gascal Jr.
General Santos City Mayor Adelbert Antonio declared a holiday in the city as an offshoot of the bombings, which also forced major establishments to close shop.
Government forces were also dispatched to secure vital installations, especially oil depots.
MILF deputy chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar, in an interview with a Manila-based broadcast network, denied any hand in the bombings in General Santos, saying they do not intend to harm civilians. He said it could have been done by a third force, apparently referring to the extremist Abu Sayyaf rebel group.
But MILF legal counsel Lanang Ali told Agence France Presse that his group was responsible for the bomb attacks in the city in retaliation for the military assault on Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao.
Some 200 rebels led by Commander Golem of the MILF's 204th Brigade occupied Palian Bridge as early at 5 a.m.
The rebels, armed with grenade launchers and assault rifles, barricaded the bridge with at least four passenger buses, three cargo trucks and two private cars, closing the highway to vehicular traffic.
At about 9 a.m., some 100 additional guerrillas led by Commander Abu arrived to beef up Golem's unit.
Church and local government officials tried to appeal for the release of the hostages, but the rebels set free only four adults and six children.
The attack by government forces came after attempts at peaceful negotiations failed.
The guerrillas withdrew from the bridge past lunch time, leaving behind one dead comrade.
Some 200 MILF fighters also set up barricades along the national highway in Polunuling, Tupi town in South Cotabato, triggering a two-hour gunbattle with government forces that left at least 10 rebels dead.
About 300 MILF fighters staged the dawn attack on Camp Tiangco, an Army division headquarters beside the Awang airport, pummeling it with rocket-propelled grenades.
The assault prompted the national flag carrier Philippine Airlines to cancel all flights today to General Santos and Cotabato City.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the assault in Cotabato City.
The military said the rebels blocked the highway linking Cotabato City and General Santos, and intercepted two buses whose 70 passengers were taken hostage.
Military officials suspected the bombings were the handiwork of the MILF guerrillas who declared on Sunday their withdrawal from peace talks with the government.
Heavy fighting erupted on Friday as the military launched air and ground attacks on some 700 MILF guerrillas blocking a road on the western portion of the main MILF Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao, and extorting money from motorists.
The MILF retaliated by announcing on Sunday they were pulling out of the peace negotiations, and ordered an all-out offensive against military posts and government facilities.
Army Capt. Samuel Deles said four military helicopters and four fighter jets were stationed at Awang Airport when the MILF raid took place.
Deles said the rebels also raided Army detachments in Parang town in Maguindanao and in Carmen town in North Cotabato, killing two soldiers and wounding two others.
There were no reports of casualties on the MILF side.
The Associated Press quoted Deles as saying pursuing soldiers tracked down a group of MILF guerrillas who herded some 300 civilians into the Dole Philippines compound in Polomolok, South Cotabato.
"These attacks are in retaliation for the ongoing (military) offensive against us in Camp Abubakar," said rebel commander Bong Faisal whose men occupied the Dole compound.
MILF vice chairman for military affairs Al Haj Murad said fighting escalated in nearby Lanao del Sur and North Cotabato provinces.
Murad claimed responsibility for the attack on Camp Tiongco and warned of further clashes.
"We have given out orders to our commanders to attack enemy targets at their discretion. We have given orders to all MILF commanders in the South to look into the situation, and if they feel there is a need to attack...it is up to them," Murad said.
He said clashes still raged in the towns of Buldon, Matanog and Talayan towns in Maguindanao, as well as in Pikit and Aleosan in North Cotabato, and in Balabagan and Kapatagan in Lanao del Sur.
Some 500 Muslim families consisting of over 45,000 people from three barangays along the Isulan-Cotabato highway were reported trapped in the skirmishes between soldiers and MILF guerrillas.
Four children and a woman were allegedly wounded due to the mortar shells that exploded near their homes.
Maj. Julieto Ando, civil-military operations chief of the 6th Infantry Division, said the troops could not break through the rebel blockade along the highway for fear of harming civilians, some of whom were allegedly being used as human shields by the rebels.
In Malacañang, Press Secretary Ricardo Puno ruled out the possibility that the government would declare a state of emergency in the strife-torn places in Mindanao despite the dislocation of thousands of villagers.
"There is no reason to declare a state of emergency or anything of that sort...that's far-fetched," Puno said.
President Estrada told The STAR he would seriously consider convening the National Security Council to tackle the Mindanao crisis.
Puno indicated that the security situation in the South was still manageable.
"If this is a way of blackmailing the government, this is going to fail," Puno said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development said it has released more than P500,000 in relief assistance to the displaced families in Mindanao.
For its part, the PNRC said it has fielded disaster response teams to provide relief and assistance to affected villagers in the troubled areas in the South.
The Red Cross teams consisted of 23 first aiders, nurses and a doctor.
Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez viewed the resumption of the armed conflict in Mindanao as a big blow to the country's international image.
"The MILF offensive in South Cotabato, where they interdicted the highway between Marbel and General Santos, has upped the ante in Mindanao," Golez said in a statement.
For his part, Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. appealed to the MILF to spare innocent civilians.
Villar branded as "cowardly act" the rebels' practice of using civilians as human shields in their fight with government forces.
At the same time, Villar expressed confidence the Mindanao conflict could still be resolved peacefully.
Calls for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the MILF mounted amid the fighting.
The Archdiocese of Davao said war "is not the solution to the problem" in the South.
Former Davao City Mayor Jesus Dureza urged the government and the MILF to "abandon the battlefield and return to the negotiating table to discuss peace in Mindanao."
The business community in Maguindanao appealed to the government and the MILF to go back to the negotiating table, saying the conflict has adversely affected not only their trade, but also the economy in the South.
"We are appealing to our MILF brothers not to give up the hope of achieving their goal through peaceful negotiations. We have suffered enough living under the climate of hostilities," the businessmen said in a statement.
An official of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) also aired the same appeal. "There must be peace in order to have (economic) development," said ARMM Interior and Local Government Secretary Abdul Jabbar Jalal. -- Paolo Romero, Jess Diaz, Marichu Villanueva, Sheila Crisostomo, Lino de la Cruz