MILF fighters are now educated and informed of the peace process

By Rexcel Sorza, IOL Correspondent

MANILA, August 28 (IslamOnline.net) – As clashes erupted Saturday, August 28, between soldiers and Muslim fighters in the southern Philippines, a peace advocate urged both the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to go back to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace to the southern island of Mindanao.

Both sides traded blame for Saturday clashes, accusing each other of violating a truce ahead of peace talks.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said clashes erupted when soldiers and government militias conducted a surprise raid on the homes of civilian Muslims and members of the organization.

"The soldiers and militias raided the houses occupied by MILF rebels. They searched houses and harassed many civilians and attacked MILF members without provocation, and this triggered the fighting. The MILF is still investigating this incident," Kabalu said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

An army spokesman in the area, however, said MILF members attacked a military detachment near the town of Mamasapano in Maguindanao province at dawn, forcing soldiers to retaliate.

"Rebel snipers harassed our position in Linantangan village and soldiers are now clearing the area. We are still awaiting military reports. We don't know yet if there are casualties on both sides," Lieutenant Franklin del Prado told reporters.

Peace Urged

Peace, meanwhile, remains the only hope for the people of Mindanao to lead a normal life and seek the development of their island.

Alvaro Senturias, chair of Mindanao Peoples’ Peace Movement, said both parties “should talk peace now, otherwise guns will talk.” He warned: “When guns do the talking, you have a big problem there.”

As if he saw it coming, Senturias was speaking to IslamOnline.net only hours before Saturday clashes erupted.

He explained that government soldiers and MILF fighters are in a jittery situation despite the ongoing cease-fire, and to put an end to this imminent danger, “the peace talks should be continued and be concluded.”

This is also an opportune time, he said, as the Philippine government apparently honored its agreement with the MILF of pulling its troops out of the Buliok Complex two weeks ago while dropping criminal charges against MILF leaders and fighters last week.

“There is a need to resume the peace talks as soon as possible to solve instability and fear among the people of Mindanao ,” Senturias told IslamOnline.net Friday, August 27.

Philippine Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Friday that the Arroyo government is “determined to remove all the roadblocks towards an early start of the formal peace negotiations towards enduring development and stability in Mindanao .”

He stressed: “All parties are ready and talks are at hand. Greater stability will bring greater confidence in our economy and the capacity of our people to work in solidarity towards a common vision.

The administration is resolved to make ideologically motivated conflict a thing of the past.”

Kabalu said they are also preparing for the resumption of the talks. The MILF, he said, is embarking on an “education and information campaign all about the on going Philippine government and MILF peace process.”

Kabalu said the Mindanao-wide campaign is “aimed at reaching out our armed forces as part of our commitment to sustain peace on the ground as a requirement to a conducive atmosphere necessary before the resumption of formal peace talks expected to take place anytime this year or early next year.”

The move, he added, was properly coordinated with the Philippine government through the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities in order to avoid misinterpretation of the activity.

The government and MILF ceasefire agreement of August 7, 2001 was reintroduced on July 18 last year to pave the way for the revival of the stalled peace talks brought about by the military offensive against MILF position in Buliok, Pikit, North Cotabato on February 11, 2003 .

The MILF insisted on the Philippine government’s compliance on two important issues they agreed upon in the February 2004 exploratory talks in Malaysia before the formal talks could resume.

These are the repositioning of government soldiers from Buliok Complex, which was the MILF military headquarters, and the dropping of criminal charges against MILF officials and members as a result of the twin bombings in the Mindanao city of Davao.

Senturias said the continuation of the talks is a positive signal to the armed troops of both parties as it would lessen the tension. He added that the uneasiness of the Bangsamoro fighters and government military would die down. “It is a signal to the forces that the negotiation is on track so they will think of peace.”

He suggested that the issue on ancestral domain has to be discussed first should the negotiating teams meet anew. “There is a need to clarify the parties’ concepts of ancestral domain as this is the most contentious issue.”

Incidentally, Senturias has organized a forum on the peace process to be held September 22 at the Southern Christian College in Cotabato with MILF and Philippine government negotiators as speakers.

He said it is their group’s contribution to bringing peace to Mindanao , where thousands of lives were lost.

The MILF, which has intermittently talked peace with the government, has been fighting for some 30 years now “to reclaim” the southern Philippine islands of Mindanao , Palawan , and Sulu. It has been saying that these islands were illegally annexed to the Philippine territory.