Military ready to secure ARMM plebiscite

COTABATO CITY — The military in Central Mindanao is prepared to quell any attempt to sabotage the Aug. 14 plebiscite for expanded autonomy in Muslim Mindanao, an Army spokesman said yesterday.

The office of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Nur Misuari, meanwhile, downplayed insinuations that forces of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) would wrangle for a postponement of the plebiscite.

Police reports earlier alluded to Misuari, former chairman of the MNLF, as having mobilized about a thousand of his remaining followers to disrupt the plebiscite in some parts of the Special Zone of Peace and Development (SZOPAD).

The SZOPAD groups 14 cities and 15 provinces in the South which are covered by the Sept. 2, 1996 government-MNLF peace agreement.

Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said they have fielded ample security forces in critical areas in Central Mindanao to help the police and the Commission on Elections ensure a peaceful plebiscite.

"We have been tightly monitoring the movements of armed groups in the 6th ID’s jurisdiction as early as June to ensure no one would disrupt this democratic exercise," he said.

Ando said their division commander, Brig. Gen. Roy Kyamko, has activated a special team of Army officers to document any misbehavior of armed groups opposed to the Aug. 14 plebiscite, to expedite their prosecution.

"We have military lawyers now focusing on this concern. We are calling on those against this activity not to resort to any illegal means of expressing their sentiments," Ando said.

Misuari’s office, in a press statement, described as "baseless and unfounded" reports that he was bent on sabotaging the plebiscite.

Misuari has pressed for the postponement of the plebiscite, even getting the support of the influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Misuari even visited Comelec chairman Alfredo Benipayo to press his stance, but the latter merely told him that only Congress could decide on this.

The MNLF is now led by the "Council of 15," composed of key leaders of the front, among them Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema and Sulu Gov. Yusoph Jikiri, which unseated Misuari due to what they claimed was loss of trust and confidence in his leadership.

Meanwhile, Mindanao businessmen welcomed the holding of the plebiscite, hoping that it would defuse conflict between those favoring and opposing expansion of the autonomous set-up.

"We welcome it in a way that we know it will, once and for all, help resolve the issue at hand," Mindanao Business Council chairperson Joji Ilagan-Bian said.

"Now that we are doing our best to get Mindanao back into business, we can now have a clear direction and really move forward because of the holding of the plebiscite," she said.

Bian said that regardless of the results of the plebiscite, the business community wants direction for development efforts in Mindanao.

Comelec-Region 11 director Lirio Joquiño said all preparations are in place for the plebiscite. — With Sandy Araneta and Edith Regalado