House wants end to war with MILF

The House of Representatives called on President Estrada yesterday to stop military operations in Mindanao and resume peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The call of the lawmakers was contained in Resolution 1552, which was approved last Tuesday.

Among the resolution's authors were Nur Jaafar of Tawi-Tawi, Abdullah Mangotara of Lanao del Norte, Didagen Dilangalen of Maguindanao, Benasing Marambon of Lanao del Sur, Abdulgani Salapuddin of Basilan and Assistant Minority Leader Simeon Datumanong of Maguindanao.

In their resolution, the congressmen said the military campaign against the MILF departs from the government policy of negotiations and development of areas of conflict.

The war is sowing seeds of division among Christians and Muslims and other tribes in Mindanao and could worsen into an ethnic-religious confrontation, the congressmen added.

Mindanao and opposition lawmakers led by Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. and House Minority Leader Feliciano Belmonte Jr. (Lakas, Quezon City) joined religious leaders in the South in launching Kalinaw sa Mindanaw (Peace in Mindanao) movement.

"We should change the perception that war is needed to attain peace in Mindanao," Belmonte said.

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said peace negotiations with the MILF should be given a chance even as he justified the continued military operation in Mindanao.

"We should look forward to resuming peace talks because our people would like to see a peaceful settlement of this issue," he said at a press conference yesterday.

However, he said the government should negotiate with rebels from a vantage point.

"In reality, you have to negotiate in a position of strength and there should be security requirements to be satisfied to avoid a repetition of whatever happened in the past," he said.

In Sultan Kudarat, a motorist was killed and two people were wounded after 30 armed men believed to be MILF guerrillas ambushed a van along the Isulan-Tacurong Highway last Tuesday.

Sultan Kudarat police director Superintendent Agapito Salvador identified the fatality as Danny Lozano and the wounded as Wendell Reyes, 16, and Ricky Somoza, 24.

Salvador advised motorists against using the highway at night, particularly during a curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

The ambush occurred at J. C. Montilla in Tacurong, which is less than five kilometers away from Camp Amado Dumlao, headquarters of the Central Mindanao police.

Police and Army troops immediately launched a manhunt for the attackers, who had reportedly come from an MILF camp in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao.

Six hours after the ambush, a powerful blast rocked a busy thoroughfare in Kabakan in North Cotabato, which is a progressive town of mixed Christian and Muslim population.

No deaths or injuries were reported.

North Cotabato police director Superintendent Alex Paul Monteagudo said the bomb exploded in front of the Emcor appliance store along a busy thoroughfare.

Kabakan town Mayor Wilfredo Bataga blamed the MILF for the bombing

"This is another diversion to distract the attention of government forces now continuously attacking all their positions," he said.

Capt. Noel Detoyato, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said the bomb was made of substances used for an improvised 81 mm mortar.

One group could be behind the bombings in Kabakan and Midsayap because the same substances were used in making both bombs, he added.

Last Monday, unidentified men fired grenade projectiles on a house belonging to MILF commander Mosanip Solaiman in Barangay Saliao, Esperanza town in Sultan Kudarat.

A resident, identified as Soto Kanatu, 26, was injured in the attack.

Esperanza police said vigilantes could be responsible for the attack as Mosanip and his men had taken hostage 43 Christians in Barangay Pamatingan in Esperanza last week.

Armed men also ambushed a jeepney owned by Moro National Liberation Front commander Larry Simagandal while traveling at the boundary of Isulan and Bagumbayan towns at 6:30 p.m. yesterday.

In General Santos City, at least six people were wounded after a grenade exploded during a party at a newly-inaugurated apartment in Barangay Calumpang last Tuesday night.

The injured were identified as Mike Clinton, Danny Dominguito, Lerio and Jun Sabandal, Dodong Andion, and Ponciano Pinon. They are now in stable condition at St. Elizabeth Hospital.

General Santos City police director Superintendent Conrado Laza said the grenade attack was triggered by a feud between two families in the barangay.

Witnesses said the grenade was hurled by an unidentified visitor, who was earlier mauled for trying to create trouble at the party while drunk.

After being mauled, the visitor reportedly left and then moments later a grenade exploded at the party, witnesses added.

Lead investigator Senior Inspector Joel Limson said police have already identified the perpetrator, but declined to identify him pending further investigation.

"We already have a suspect and we are only gathering enough evidence to pin him down," he said.

In Buldon, Maguindanao, government troops occupied the town proper without any resistance and reinstalled elective officials to their posts.

The MILF operated a shadow government here for 20 years, administered shariah law in the barangays, and collected "revolutionary taxes" from helpless residents.

Maj. Julieto Ando, 6th Infantry Division civil-military relations chief, said the administration of Buldon Mayor Abolais Manalao has already taken control of the town yesterday.

"Now there is a semblance of government in this part of the country," Ando said. "This is a good development. The local government unit here can now exist peacefully and pursue its governing functions."

Army bomb experts cleared abandoned bunkers and trenches of mines and booby traps, which are located in strategic points, according to a military spokesman.

Detoyato said most MILF positions along the road to the Buldon town hall have been secured by troops from the 3rd and 25th Infantry Battalions.

"The only problem now is the big work to be done in deactivating all the anti-tank and anti-personnel mines the rebels have laid in many spots in their positions which they abandoned before the military could finally get through," he said.

Government forces were able to enter Buldon following the fall of MILF-held territories in adjacent Matanog town, which is traversed by the Narciso Ramos Highway.

Thirty-four government troops and 189 MILF guerrillas were killed in fierce fighting to drive away the MILF from the highway last week.

Col. Rafael Romero, Armed Forces spokesman, said the military might set up camps near Narciso Ramos Highway to prevent the MILF from retaking the vital route.

The highway links the provinces of Maguindanao, and the Cotabato and Lanao provinces. It also leads to Camp Abubakar, the MILF's main base in Central Mindanao.

In Manila, the communist hit squad Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) vowed yesterday to protect Muslim communities against attacks by vigilante groups.

In a statement, ABB spokesman Pol Milendez said they support the MILF's demand for autonomy in Mindanao, considering that the government could not attend to the needs of the region.

"Recognition of the MILF as a legitimate representative of the Moros for a genuine autonomy will end the war in Mindanao," he said.

In San Juan, officials of Northern Mindanao chided the media yesterday for sensationalizing the war in Sulu and Basilan.

General Santos City Mayor Adelbert Antonino tagged the media as "unfair" for showing only the negative situations in Mindanao.

"Sulu and Basilan are not the whole island, so it's unfair that (media) should say the whole of Mindanao is dangerous," he said during a breakfast forum in Greenhills.

Antonino was joined by Agusan del Norte Gov. Valentina Plaza, Regional Director Brielgo Pagaran of the Department of Trade and Industry in CARAGA, and Epimaco Galera Jr., vice chairman of CARAGA Regional Development Council.

CARAGA comprises Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, and the cities of Butuan and Surigao.

Antonino also said the fighting in Mindanao could not be ended by a change in the country's form of government.

"If we insist on a federal system of government, we are talking of constitutional amendments," he said. "We need it, but how do we stop the floodgates from opening?"

Meanwhile, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said in a privilege speech yesterday the country should understand that Mindanao leaders are calling for a ceasefire because the people of Mindanao are suffering the most from the war.

"As fate would have it, more Mindanao soldiers watered the battlefields of Mindanao with their blood than our soldiers from Luzon and the Visayas," he said.

"Of the seven missing soldiers, four are from Mindanao. By rank, two of three officers, 11 of 20 sergeants, 14 of 26 corporals, and 19 of privates first class, all killed in action came from Mindanao."

On the other hand, Speaker Manuel Villar called for a faster implementation of the P150-billion modernization program for the Armed Forces.

"Modern and state-of-the-art military hardware will ensure that the enemies of the state are decisively crushed," he told soldiers and civilians who were wounded in Mindanao.

"We must work together to ensure that the Armed Forces as well as the various law enforcement agencies in the country are properly equipped to defend the Filipino people from any threat to their safety and well-being."

Villar made the plea during a visit at the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City yesterday. - With Paolo Romero, Allen Estabillo, Matthew Estabillo, John Unson, Edith Regalado, Sheila Crisostomo, Efren Danao, Non Alquitran