A lawmaker is now pushing to investigate the recent encounter between government forces and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Sumisip, Basilan, that left four people dead and 12 others wounded.
It was allegedly lack of communication that led to the encounter that killed PFC Mark Barat and Cpl. Orland James Diamel and two members of the MILF.
The two soldiers were part of troops providing security to United Nations Development Programme personnel working on a peace and development project in the town when they were fired upon by armed men allegedly linked to the MILF who probably thought they were a threat.
The peace and order situation in that part of the Philippines isn’t that simple. Whether we like it or not, owing to their history and culture there are areas in the country that cannot be governed the usual way. The government has seen it best to let such places govern themselves, including having their “security forces”.
It isn’t ideal, but it is what it is. You just can’t enforce something upon people who have known a way of life for generations, if not centuries.
This has resulted in an uneasy truce between the government and the MILF. Both are technically no longer at war with each other, but sometimes misencounters like these do happen.
Indeed, it must be determined what caused in this incident, and not just to bring justice to those who were killed.
We must avoid rekindling conflict in this part of the country. While there are still flashpoints here and there in the south, there has been peace for quite a while now. But those who belong to the older generation of Filipinos still remember a time when it was all-out war between government forces and people who insist they are just protecting their own in those areas.
We don’t want a return to such turbulent times.