EDITORIAL – On a rampage

As of yesterday the death toll in the latest rampage of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front stood at 19. Twelve of the fatalities were civilians. Why did so many people have to die? Because the MILF wanted to kill a barangay captain who was in a bus with some of his relatives.

MILF rebels waylaid the bus in Carmen, North Cotabato last Wednesday. Hit by rifle fire, the bus careened and struck a land mine. MILF rebels continued strafing the bus and destroyed it with rocket-propelled grenades. Among the dead were the barangay captain of Carmen town, Dionisio Villaver, his nephew and their two security escorts. Passengers who survived the ambush were taken hostage by the rebels. The MILF also raided nearby Kulambugan town and blew up a bridge, halting traffic. One MILF commander said the attack was meant to cripple the economy.

And the government is supposed to be discussing peace with this group. What would the MILF do if it failed to get its demands in exchange for peace? This rampage that was admitted by the MILF leadership, which deliberately targeted civilians, should make the government rethink its pursuit of peace with this group. Since the MILF agreed to discuss peace years ago, it has merely used the peace process to gather strength. It even managed to enjoy special enclaves that could not be touched by the military, which were later used to train terrorists including members of al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah. The MILF will continue jerking the government around and is unlikely to drop its ultimate aim of creating a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia.

In rethinking its tack, the government can consider Basilan, where a combination of relentless military pursuit operations and aggressive deve-lopment of the province drove the ruthless Abu Sayyaf out of the island in just six months – the duration of the joint exercises between Philippine and American troops. The United States has since trained several special units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in modern guerrilla warfare. With development programs, political will and efficient military operations, there can be progress in Mindanao, and there will be no need to grant concessions to a terrorist group like the MILF.