MILF continues raids on North Cotabato villages

COTABATO CITY – Amid ongoing peace negotiations with the government, suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas continued their attacks on the farming villages of North Cotabato for more than a week, officials here said yesterday.

Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol, deputy chairman of North Cotabato’s peace and order council, said the rebels have destroyed a total of 84 houses and robbed farmers of some 114 heads of cattle when they attacked farming villages in the towns of Aleosan and Midsayap.

Piñol claimed the mayors of the affected towns, Loreto Cabaya of Aleosan and Manuel Rabarra of Midsayap, have declared MILF rebels are driving the villagers away from their lands in an apparent attempt to force the government into postponing the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on Aug. 11.

The MILF urged the deferment of the regional elections because of the peace negotiations. Malacañang supported the MILF call to postpone the elections, pointing out possible complications with regards to the terms of office of the elected officials should a peace settlement finally be reached.

Local leaders, however, urged President Arroyo to replace the officials of the GRP-MILF joint ceasefire committee for their failure to implement the truce.

Officials particularly called for the replacement of the government’s ceasefire committee chairman, Gen. Rey Sealana, and the commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, for ignoring blatant violations of the ceasefire agreement by the MILF rebels attacking the villages in the province.

“They are just there, hundreds of them. They even wave their hands and taunt militiamen guarding surrounding areas they have not occupied yet. We’re defending our communities by ourselves, using our resources,” Cabaya said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu claimed the clashes in Aleosan and Midsayap stemmed from long-time land disputes between local guerrillas and farmers in the isolated barangays at the border of the two towns.

Kabalu said the MILF central committee did not authorize the attacks by the rebels in Midsayap and Aleosan.

Piñol, however, said it is highly irregular for the MILF leadership to ignore the attacks, pointing out that they should have ordered their fighters to move out from the area.

“This very sad development just confirms the scenario that the MILF is not in control of its forces. If there would be final peace agreement between the MILF and the government, will MILF forces on the ground all adhere to such peace agreement? The government peace panel should consider this concern very seriously,” Piñol said.

MILF sources in North Cotabato said the atrocities involving their forces in the two towns are not related to the demand to postpone the ARMM elections.

Sources from the provincial peace and order council said the gunmen harassing the villages in Midsayap were led by Amiril Katoh Ombra, a known Muslim radical.

Local officials in Maguindanao said Ombra and his men have been enforcing Islamic laws in the communities in the style of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Most of the villagers attacked by the rebels are Ilonggo, Cebuano and Ilocano families, according to North Cotabato provincial social welfare officer Virgilita Guialaran.

One of the victims of the attacks is the wife of a ranking officer of the Army’s 6th ID, who reportedly lost some 30 goats and a dozen cows to the rebels.

The North Cotabato provincial board twice enacted strongly-worded resolutions urging the national government to replace the chairman of the GRP’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities for his failure to work out the repositioning of the MILF forces away from the villages.

The military, on the other hand, said the troops are under orders not to provoke the rebels and stay on the defensive to allow the peace process with the MILF to proceed.