Estrada: Mindanao conflict my predecessors' fault

Without naming names, President Estrada blamed his predecessors yesterday for their "unwillingness to act decisively" on the Muslim insurgency now threatening to tear the country apart.

"For years my predecessors watched as the power and influence of secession and fundamentalism grew to terroristic proportion. The nation and its leaders debated the course of action to take, captured by their unwillingness to act decisively, and provoking only half-hearted solutions," the President said in a speech read for him by Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora at a Malacañang ceremony inaugurating an agricultural project.

Mr. Estrada claimed to have learned from his predecessors' mistakes.

"When I became President, I knew that swift and decisive action was important if our nation were to achieve the goal of eradicating poverty and pushing growth. I have lived by this principle from day one of my Presidency. This principle governs our military and police efforts to secure a lasting peace in Mindanao," the President said.

Trying to keep the economy on track and prop up the country's image battered by fighting in the South, Mr. Estrada earlier vowed to end the conflict - which he described as "minor" and "temporary" - as soon as possible.

"We have a minor problem in Mindanao but this is temporary. Once this is resolved, we can have true peace and progress," he told the people of Guimaras province where he inaugurated several government infrastructure projects yesterday.

Peace talks between the government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are set to resume May 30, nearly a month after the MILF walked out of the talks in protest against a military offensive in Maguindanao.

Mr. Estrada renewed his appeal to Muslim and communist rebels to lay down their arms and help the government in its war against poverty.

"We cannot progress as a nation if we don't unite. All I ask is a little sacrifice so we can overcome these problems," he said.

Trade Secretary Manuel Roxas said the government is still targeting a four to five percent growth in the gross domestic product this year. "We're very comfortable that we will remain within this range," he said.

Finance Secretary Jose Pardo earlier said that they may have to trim their economic growth targets if the Muslim insurgency drags on beyond June.

He admitted that government economic planners are having difficulty determining the impact the Muslim insurgency would have on the economy.

Mindanao businessmen had earlier estimated that they have lost P1 billion in business. If the Muslim insurgency drags on for too long, the country's food supply might be significantly reduced as Mindanao is a major food source.

Even though the Muslim insurgency has been confined to a small section of Mindanao, the country's image as a whole has been battered, with tourism and related industries hit hardest.

The tension there, especially threats from the extremist Abu Sayyaf to kidnap and kill Americans, has prompted US Peace Corps volunteers to pull out temporarily from the region.

US Embassy spokesman Thomas Skipper said they will return when the situation stabilizes.

Tension heightened in the metropolis when a bomb exploded in SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City last Sunday, four days after an explosion rocked upscale Glorietta mall in Makati City, Manila's financial district.

The blasts raised fears that Muslim rebels have extended their insurgency to the metropolis.

Roxas admitted that the insurgency and the shopping mall bombings "made businessmen think twice about setting up factories here or expanding their operations."

The violence also affected the stock market and the foreign exchange rate. "The recent bombings in Manila made people nervous. For some reason or another, the immediate reaction was that it was better to buy dollars for a while," Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Rafael Buenaventura said.