Pacquiao laughs off De La Hoya’s fight plan

Manny Pacquiao stopped and looked at the ceiling for a moment when asked to comment on Oscar De La Hoya’s plans to adopt Juan Manuel Marquez’s fighting style in their Dec. 6 megabuck fight.



Then he said: “Bakit? Tinalo na ba ako ni Marquez? (Why, did Marquez beat me?)

“He might just as well lose if he will take on Marquez’s style. As far as I can remember, Marquez has not won over me,” added Pacquiao in Filipino during a press conference held shortly before he left last night for Los Angeles.

Marquez was in the news yesterday after he stopped Cuban Joel Casamayor in the 11th round of his first fight as a lightweight.

In their first meeting in 2004, Marquez bucked three knockdowns in the first round to salvage a draw with the Filipino champion and keep his two world titles then. Pacquiao then decisioned the Mexican for the super featherweight crown early this year.

With a host of politicians in tow, Pacquiao said he will start training at the Wild Card gym of trainer Freddie Roach on Monday, a day after his arrival in LA. He said his sparring with a pair of 5-foot-10 middleweights may begin Oct. 6.

“I will be training very hard, use my skill but I will not enumerate my strategies because Oscar might prepare for it,” said Pacquiao during the hastily called press conference at the Rennaisance Hotel in Makati.

His speed, he said, will be the “key” in the fight, but his team will come up with more strategies, “different styles” against De La Hoya, a 10-time world champion in six different weight divisions.

“They study me, I will study them. I will do my best. I’m not the kind of boxer who brags before the fight,” added Pacquiao.

After beating Casamayor yesterday, the Marquez camp again called out to Pacquiao, saying that two closely fought bouts deserve a third installment.

“No problem,” Pacquiao countered.

“I can fight with anybody. But he (Marquez) must agree to my offer because I will be the promoter of that fight,” added Pacquiao.

“I won’t agree to it if I’m not (the promoter). If he agrees to my small offer, then he really wants to fight me, but if he won’t then it means he’s only after the money.”

De La Hoya has said he would adopt the counter-punching style of Marquez and is even inclined to hire the Mexican’s famed coach Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, Marquez’s trainer.(By Marc Anthony Reyes; INQ.net)

Esperon to MILF: peace process continues; MOA-AD will be major reference

COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/13 September) -- Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon has relayed a four-point message to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) through the Malaysian facilitator, and this includes the continuation of the peace process and the use of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) as “major reference, if and when the talks resume.”

Esperon went to Malaysia on Thursday as President Arroyo’s Special Envoy to Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) Abdullah Badawi, to hand over a personal letter “explaining the non-signing of the MOA-AD, and to discuss and explore ways of sustaining the peace process and other related issues in Mindanao,” according to a press statement from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
Esperon was accompanied in the mission by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Director-General Pedro Cabuay Jr.

Esperon met with Dato Othman Abdul Razak, the Prime Ministers’ appointed GRP-MILF Talks Facilitator, “who was straightforward in asking what the GRP would like to be relayed to the MILF.”

The former Armed Forces chief of staff, replied: “One, the peace process continues. Two, calmer and cooler MILF leaders must take control while Umbra Kato and Bravo must be turned into the Philippine authorities. Three, the MOA-AD will become a major reference, if and when the talks resume. And four, Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) must be frontloaded in the agenda of future talks.”

Disarmament, however, “is not a precondition to the resumption of talks,” the press statement read.

Asked to comment on the four-point message of Esperon, MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal replied, “can’t comment. We need official communication from Kuala Lumpur.”

The Philippine government and MILF had initialed the MOA-AD on July 27 and were scheduled to formally sign the agreement on August 5. A temporary restraining order (TRO), however, was issued by the Supreme Court, preventing the government peace panel chair from signing the agreement.

The MOA-AD was supposed to have been the last of the agreements for the three agenda items prior to negotiations on the comprehensive peace agreement.

Following the protests against the MOA, the Philippine government announced initially it would not sign it in its present form but the following week added it won’t also sign it in whatever form.

On September 3, Malacanang announced the dissolution of the government peace panel and the shift in “peace paradigm” of negotiating with armed groups only on the basis of DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration).

Esperon, the press statement said, was received in the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya where Badawi expressed concern over the current situation in Mindanao.

The Prime Minister, however, “impressed his optimism to Sec. Esperon by saying that Malaysia remains hopeful the Philippines will eventually find the key to peace in Mindanao.”

Earlier in the day, Esperon met with Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Urtama Dr Rais Yatim at his office in Putrajaya. The latter “expressed concern on the escalation of hostilities” in Mindanao but Esperon said he explained the military operations are “target-specific and area-delimited, and are extremely important for the security of the people and the stability in the affected areas.”

Esperon’s press statement added that Malaysia has “expressed willingness to continue as facilitator of the talks and lead country of the International Monitoring Team (IMT).”

The tour of duty of this IMT batch would have ended August 31 this year but was extended to three more months.

Other countries participating in the IMT are Malaysia ; Brunei , Libya and the lone non-soldier, Japan.

Esperon also met with his former counterpart, General Dato Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Zainal, the Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces.

”General Aziz agreed that Bangsamoro aspirations can be accommodated within Philippine sovereignty and constitution. He gave the assurance that the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) will always be ready to support the peace process. If requested, the MAF is ready to increase deployment in the IMT,” the press statement read. (Source: MindaNews)

GenSan, Cotabato and Butuan will soon have its own passport offices

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/11 September 2008) – Residents of General Santos, Cotabato and Butuan will no longer have to commute to Davao City or Cagayan de Oro City to get their passports. They will have their own passport processing offices soon.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the “immediate opening” of six additional regional consular offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), half of them in Mindanao: Cotabato, General Santos and Butuan,

The President’s directive is embodied in Executive Order 748 issued on Aug. 28, 2008, “to effect an efficient delivery of basic public services by bringing it closer to the people.”


The Regional Consular Offices are mandated “to process and issue passports and to extend various consular services to Filipinos and non-residents alike."

Aside from the three Mindanao cities, the other areas where consular offices will be set up are the cities of Bacolod, Puerto Princes and Baguio.


Under the E.O., funding for the project will be coming from the annual budget of the DFA and the Passport Revolving Fund.

“For Calendar Year 2008, an initial fund amounting to P66-million shall be released from any available appropriation for CY 2008, as may be determined by the Department of Budget of Management,” the E.O. said.

The E.O also provides for the organizational requirements and housing for the soon-to-be-created consular offices.

At present, residents of Cotabato, General Santos and the neighboring provinces of Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan and the three Davao provinces have to go to Davao City to have their passports processed.

At present, too, residents from Caraga region – the two Agusans and two Surigaos -- and Bukidnon have to go to Cagayan de Oro for the same service. (Source: MindaNews)

RP delegation dispatched to update Malaysia on talks with MILF

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US forces helping in offensives vs MILF rebels--Moro group

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—A Moro group on Tuesday said US forces have been helping in the offensives against Moro Islamic Liberation front rebels in Maguindanao.

But the military denied it even in the wake of photos taken by the Philippine Daily Inquirer which showed US forces holding an unmanned aerial vehicle during the early days of the offensive against the forces of MILF Commanders Ameril Ombra Kato and Wahid Tundok.

The US forces were seen inside an Army camp in Datu Saudi Ampatuan on August 24, when government troops were shelling Kato's position.

Bai Ali Indayla, spokesperson of Moro human rights group Kawagib, said there were also instances when they saw American forces in full battle gear with Filipino troops in Maguindanao last month.

"We do not know what more the Armed Forces of the Philippines and US troops were doing inside Maguindanao with their covert operations. Last night, there was a helicopter flying at night within Maguindanao areas but we cannot see it because it's dark," Indayla said Tuesday.

Colonel Marlou Salazar, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, who supervises the punitive action against Kato's group, declined to comment on photos of US forces holding the body and wings of a white unmanned aerial vehicle inside the military camp in Crossing Salvo in Datu Saudi town.

During the anti-Abu Sayyaf operations in Sulu in 2006, US forces also used drones to track down Khadaffy Janjalani and other bandit leaders.

Major General Eugenio Cedo, then commander of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said the drones were used for intelligence gathering purposes.

One of the drones later crashed in Indanan and was recovered by village officials.

Major Armand Rico, spokesperson of the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) in Davao City, said he could not confirm if spy planes were being used in Maguindanao.

Commenting on the Inquirer photos, Rico said: "We could not confirm it is a spy plane. We still cannot ascertain. The ones being used by US soldiers were bigger than that."

Salazar also did not comment on photos taken by the Inquirer, which showed other US soldiers inside the said camp.

"You ask them (US soldiers)," he said.

Rico said there is an ongoing exercise with US forces in Central Mindanao which began about last month.

"There is an ongoing training there. There are many courses involved, (explosive ordinance handling), monitoring, engineering and (handling of) technical equipment," he said.

He said the stay of US forces inside the military camp in Crossing Salvo could still be part of the said exercise.

As to allegations US soldiers were seen with their Filipino counterparts, Salazar said: "The rules they follow, if something happened on the ground like clashes, they will stay and remain in an Army camp."

The US Embassy in Manila has repeatedly denied US forces have joined combat operations.

But Herbert Docena, researcher of the Focus on the Global South and author of the books "At the Door of All the East, The Philippines in the United States Military Strategy," and "Unconventional Warfare--Are US Special Forces engaged in an Offensive War in the Philippines?" was consistent in his claim that "US troops in the Philippines are into actual combat operation with the Filipino forces."

"It's ludicrous, very ridiculous for our government and for the United States to declare their soldiers are not into combat operations," Docena told the Inquirer by phone Tuesday.

Docena said "they are stretching the meaning of combat."

"If they say their activity is not combat like searching for dud bombs, conducting intelligence gathering, evacuating wounded soldiers, (then) they are not just lying to the Filipino people or to the public, they are also lying to themselves," he said.

Docena said even the United States Army War manual described their operation as "combat operations."

In Lanao del Norte, several US soldiers arrived Tuesday as the military was intensifying its manhunt against another MILF commander, Abdullah Macapaar alias Commander Bravo.

But Colonel Benito Antonio Templo De Leon, who took over the helm of the 104th Infantry Brigade, said no US soldiers will be joining the manhunt.

The center of the operation now, he said, is in Mt. Gurain, which borders the two Lanao provinces.

He said aside from soldiers, the Philippine National Police is also helping in the operation against Bravo.

As this developed, the local government of Datu Piang in Maguindanao has called for an investigation into the death of six civilians, including a teenage mother and two children, during an alleged military air strike on Monday morning.

Musib Tan, spokesperson of the Datu Piang municipal government, said witnesses have confirmed claims that the bomb came from a military aircraft.

The victims were fleeing the fighting aboard a motorized banca when they were hit by an explosion, Tan said.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division, said the 6th Infantry Division was conducting an investigation.

"We're not hiding anything here. The reported deaths of the six alleged civilians happened right in the area where MILF fighters were firing shots at aircraft hovering above them," Ando said.

He said the military only flew "persuasion flights" but no bombings were conducted.

Samsudin Ali, a 50-year-old Muslim farmer, said they were certain that a bomb or a rocket landed on the motorized banca.

"Na-direct hit ang pump boat, makapal ang usok (smoke was thick)," Ali said.

Tan also said metal fragments pierced through the bodies of the victims.

The incident has also triggered alarm over villagers in other parts of Datu Saudi and Datu Piang towns.

On Monday afternoon, the Datu Piang town plaza had already been teeming with displaced persons.

In Datu Saudi, Tan said the number of evacuees has already swelled to more than 10,000 following the influx Monday of another batch seeking refuge from the violence.

"Not only are we attending to our Maguindanao constituents, but also Muslim evacuees from Aleosan and Midsayap in North Cotabato," Tan said.

As this developed, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police were ordered to ensure the safety of relief workers following the alleged hijacking of a truck loaded with rice from the World Food Program (WFP) in Mamasapano town.

Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, police chief for ARMM, said the police were willing to provide armed police escorts to relief organizations.

(Jeoffrey Maitem, Edwin Fernandez, Charlie C. Señase, Julie Alipala, Nash Maulana and Richel Umel, INQ.net)

Fighting resumes in Maguindanao

AFP mounts air, ground attack vs. Moro rebels

Philippines — Fighting resumed Monday after a weeklong lull with the military mounting ground and air assaults against a band of guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Datu Piang town in the province of Maguindanao, military officials said.

At least six civilians, including two children and a pregnant teenager, were killed in the clash in the village of Tee, MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said. Those killed were fleeing aboard a motorboat that was hit by a rocket from a helicopter gunship, said Mosib Tan, municipal administrator in the MILF-controlled town.

Kabalu identified the fatalities as Daya and Vilma, both surnamed Manunggal; 18-year-old newlywed and pregnant Aida; Kim, 7; Adtaya, 7; and Faiza, all surnamed Mandi. Two others, identified as Caharodin, 16, and Bailyn, 13, both surnamed Mandi, were wounded.

“There has been no fighting in Datu Piang since yesterday. What happened was that the military launched air strikes. There are many soldiers right now in Datu Piang,” Kabalu told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.

Col. Marlou Salazar, commander of the 601st Brigade, said his men killed at least seven rebels in the clash with the group of MILF commander Wahid Tondok around 9:55 a.m.

Salazar said about 50 guerrillas were sighted in Sitio Dagangin early evening of Sunday and they engaged the ground troops in a firefight Monday morning. He said the rebels, armed with cal. 50 machine guns, fired at two helicopters and air strikes were called.

Maj. Gen. Hernanie Perez, chief of the Philippine Air Force 3rd Air Division, said four planes dropped rockets as a “defensive move to prevent an escalation of violence.” He said no bombs were used and the measure was meant to scare off the MILF fighters.

No civilians in battle zone

Both Perez and Salazar could not immediately confirm the MILF report of civilian deaths.

“Those who claimed there were children fatalities were not in the area, [there were] no civilians there except government troops and MILF rebels,” said Salazar. “I think if there were children there, it would be the young MILF fighters, their child warriors.”

Government forces have been sent to hunt down Ameril Ombra Kato and Abdullah Macapaar, also known as Commander Bravo, after the two sacked towns in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte, killing scores of civilians, including women and children.

MILF leaders said Kato and Bravo were protesting the delay in the signing on Aug. 5 of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on an expanded Bangsamoro homeland hammered out in secrecy in July in Kuala Lumpur in negotiations brokered by Malaysia. The Supreme Court stopped the deal after Mindanao executives denounced the move as unconstitutional, saying it would lead to the dismemberment of the republic.

Around 100 civilians and several dozen soldiers have died in the month-long violence, according to government agencies and the military. The military claims troops have killed more than 120 MILF fighters, but the MILF confirmed only seven deaths.

Guns fell silent after the start on Monday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan although small clashes were reported.

Number of evacuees swells

Salazar said civilians in Tee started fleeing again upon seeing armed MILF in the village Sunday evening. “They must have known that anytime there will be fighting.”

Tan said evacuees in the town center had begun returning home but the number was expected to swell again as a result of the fresh outbreak of fighting.

“I am so sad with the resumption of hostilities because it’s fasting month and the people are weak and tired of evacuating,” Tan said.

Salazar said fighting erupted after troops dispatched to Tee to verify MILF sightings clashed with an undetermined number of rebels under Commander Wahid Tondok, Kato’s top lieutenant.

“We were informed by civilians about the rebels’ sightings in the village of Tee. We have sent soldiers to the area and it’s positive. The enemy also strafed our plane S-211. It returned fire but we did not fire howitzers,” Salazar said.

But Kabalu insisted no clashes happened, just the military air strikes. “We have reported the incidents to the coordinating committee on cessation of hostilities but their function right now is limited,” Kabalu said.

Muslims denounce military

The Philippine Darul Ifta (House of Opinion), a collegial body of Islamic scholars and religious leaders, condemned the military operation.

“The military should have respected the rights of the civilians. They cannot perform their fast well because they have to run every now and then,” Ustadz Esmael Ibrahim, spokesperson of Darul Ifta, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“The issue in Maguindanao is police matters. And there should be no use of bombs, cannons and more troops,” he added. (With reports from Nash Maulana,Jeoffrey Maitem, Edwin Fernandez; INQ.net)

Army rockets kill 3 children, 3 others in Maguindanao

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MILF accepts disarmament policy but…

COTABATO CITY, Philippines -- The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in pushing for a resumption of negotiations with the government in the face of new hitches on the issue of ancestral domain that led to a renewal of fighting in parts of Mindanao, on Saturday expressed support for the government's "DDR policy" but did so with some reservationsMalacañang has stated it will negotiate with the MILF only in the context of disarmament, demobilization, and rehabilitation, or DDR, and that it would also bring the affected communities into the peace process.

The government’s "shift in paradigm" and statements on DDR have alarmed peace groups, who fear an escalation of the fighting.

The MILF said it was willing to go back to the negotiating table but Malacañang should not be setting any pre-conditions.

"The disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation, or DDR, should be tackled as the last item in the stalled government and MILF peace negotiation, in case it resumes," said Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief.

Jaafar said the MILF central committee came up with this response to the government’s DDR demand during a recent meeting.

"For the MILF to lay down their arms, by force, as a precondition for the resumption of the talks would be construed as the government using its military might rather than the political approach that most civilized countries used," Jaafar said.

He said the MILF also preferred that the last letter in the initials DDR stood for "reintegration" instead of "rehabilitation."

In a five-point policy statement dubbed as the "MILF Declaration Manifest" that was officially released Friday, the rebel group described President Macapagal-Arroyo's DDR as "the new government road map to peace" that many countries used in resolving armed conflict with the underground.

Jaafar said they acknowledge that DDR "forms part of the comprehensive peace settlement, but it should be the last item in the talks."

"When the DDR is taken up ahead of the comprehensive peace settlement, it is interpreted to be a military approach. Not in the way of a political approach that President Arroyo promised in 2001 when she replaced the all-out war policy of President Joseph Estrada to the all-out peace policy," Jaafar said.

Meanwhile, an official of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Saturday admitted that the renewed conflict in Mindanao "has been extremely violent."

"Mindanao has suffered its worst fighting since 2003," Dominik Stillhart, ICRC deputy director for operations, told reporters here.

Stillhart flew in from Geneva recently as the ICRC stepped up assistance to displaced civilians, whose numbers, he said, could run up to half a million people.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council reported that the number of people displaced by recent rebel attacks and subsequent clashes with responding government forces has exceeded 200,000 individuals in Lanao Del Norte, North Cotabato, and Maguindanao.

"I visited evacuation sites and seeing the deteriorating situation of the IDPs (internally displaced people), we see it fitting to step up our aid," said Stillhart, who visited the village of Libungan Torreta in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato on Friday.

"We could see in their eyes that these people have been displaced many times over," Stillhart said.

Bai Fatima Sinsuat, the local Red Cross official, said the number of people working in the Red Cross relief operations center has increased as more evacuation areas needed assistance.

Perry Proellochs, in charge of ICRC relief operations for Central Mindanao, said the number of their field personnel has also ballooned to about 50 from only five or six before the armed conflict started in July.

"There were so many people that need humanitarian aid and that's our main concern, their health, hygiene, and food," he said.

Suara Bangsamoro, a militant Moro group, said the only way to prevent hostilities from spreading is to resume the peace negotiations. (By Charlie Señase, Edwin Fernandez, Jeoffrey Maitem; INQ.net)

Red Cross: 500,000 affected by worst fighting in 5 years

Fighting between Philippine government forces and Muslim insurgents has reached its worst point in five years, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday.

"Up to a half a million people have been affected by this armed conflict and many of them have been obliged to leave their homes," said Carla Haddad, a spokeswoman for International Committee of the Red Cross.

While some people are able to return home, others remain in evacuation centres as a result of the clashes, which "are the worst since 2003," Haddad said in Geneva, where the ICRC is headquartered.

The situation for people on southern Mindanao island will stay difficult for some time to come because of a breakdown in the peace process, she added.

The ICRC plans to provide medical assistance, food and shelter to 325,000 people on the island by year's end.

Fighting broke out between Philippine troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on August 10 after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against signing a peace agreement.

The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting for a separate Islamic state since 1978. In 2003 it signed a ceasefire with Manila to open the way for peace talks.

More violence

Analysts fear that President Gloria Arroyo's 3 September decision to dissolve a negotiating panel seeking a political solution to the MILF's 30-year rebellion will trigger increased violence across the southern island of Mindanao.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said on 4 September that four weeks of fighting between government soldiers and MILF forces had displaced some 423,772 people. These people "are directly affected and needing assistance of any form. They either lost their houses, are displaced and/or lost their livelihoods."

Cases of acute respiratory and urinary tract infections have been reported by medical authorities in camps near Kolambugan, one of the towns in Lanao del Norte province raided by MILF forces. Classes remain suspended in many areas, with schools burned down by rebels and not yet repaired and others serving as temporary shelters, according to the NDCC.

MILF rebels, headed by Umbra Kato and Commandero Bravo, led their forces in a deadly rampage across several mostly Christian towns and villages in Lanao and other areas on southern Mindanao island in August. They claimed the attacks were in retaliation for a Supreme Court order freezing an MILF-government deal that would have given them control over an expanded autonomous region in the south.

The MILF rebels looted homes and businesses, burned down houses and left some 50 people dead. Calling the attacks treacherous and a violation of a 2003 ceasefire, Arroyo unleashed punitive strikes, including heavy artillery and air bombardments, killing more than 100 rebels in the past four weeks. The government military has also taken over 15 MILF camps.

Civilian casualties

Leila de Lima, head of the independent Human Rights Commission, told IRIN the number of civilian casualties appeared to be higher than reported by the military. She said independent monitors from her office had said that in one Lanao town, Poona Piagapo, 20 civilians were killed on 24 August although their deaths went unreported.

She said it was not clear whether they were killed deliberately by the MILF or were caught in the crossfire.

"Civilians are suffering immensely. Tens of thousands are internally displaced because of this war, dozens have been killed, hundreds of homes have been pillaged and razed, landmines have been utilised, shelters and rations are insufficient, children cannot go to school and sanitation is deplorable," De Lima said.

"Armed conflict is the worst environment for human rights. The human suffering involved here remains the unmistakable black mark that stains any incidence of armed conflict," De Lima said.

Humanitarian crisis

A report by the commission after visiting nine IDP camps in the area of Cotabato city this week stated that the national and local governments were overwhelmed by the humanitarian crisis, and blamed central government for a "lack of foresight" in emergency planning prior to ordering the massive military offensive.

The report, obtained by IRIN, said sanitation was deplorable, medical supplies were running low and overall planning for disaster management "appears disorganised". It said there were no regular food supplies, potable water was inadequate, and the number of social workers to help women and children appear to be lacking.

Under pressure to quell public outrage, Arroyo scrapped talks with the MILF and said any future negotiation should entail the MILF disarming first. The directive was a major departure from her policy of talking peace and aiming for a final settlement before her term ends in 2010.(Agence France-Presse and IRIN, a news service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)

Arroyo scraps peace panel

Says she won’t sign MOA at gunpoint

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ended 11 years of peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), dissolving the government panel of negotiators and declaring that her administration cannot be forced to sign a deal on an expanded Bangsamoro homeland at gunpoint.

This was announced Wednesday by Press Secretary Jesus Dureza a day after Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro stressed that the MILF had become “irrelevant” after it refused to surrender commanders blamed for sacking towns in Mindanao and slaughtering scores of civilians.

Teodoro said that dialogues with armed groups, including the communist-led New People’s Army, would henceforth be based on demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation (DDR) as the President had previously outlined.

“There are no more talks,” Dureza told Reuters news agency. “We’re dissolving the peace panel. You don’t need it when you’re ending talks with an armed group. We’ll start consulting with the people on the ground and find out how we can resolve the Muslim problem.”

Ms Arroyo reiterated in a statement that her administration would not sign the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on ancestral domain “in light of recent violent incidents committed by lawless violent groups.”

“Our commitment is to peace, the constitutional process and rule of law. There will be no peace gained through violence, no peace agreement will be reached through intimidation or the barrel of the gun,” she said.

Off to Kuala Lumpur

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita later announced that Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales would be dispatched to Kuala Lumpur to explain Ms Arroyo’s position to Malaysian officials who brokered the deal.

Ermita insisted that the administration had not totally abandoned the peace process, that a new panel could be formed in the future and that the two sides could resume talks.

“The peace process is still on,” he said, pointing out the 2003 ceasefire mechanism and the international monitoring team remain in place.

Explaining at a forum Ms Arroyo’s latest pronouncement, Esperon said that because of the focus on grass-roots dialogue, the disbanded panel “may not find themselves suited in the new paradigm” created by the resurgence of MILF violence.

Esperon said he was not giving up on peace but that “there must be an effort from the MILF to cooperate with our authorities.”

Harakiri suggested

The disbanding of the peace panel was hailed in the Senate and said Esperon should be fired.

Sen. Francis Escudero said the President has no choice but to sack her peace adviser whom he said was a “paradox to peace process because all throughout his military life was devoted to searching and destroying the enemies.”

“Government incompetence killed the peace negotiations and so these people have to go and go quickly,” said Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan. “They should take the cue from the Japanese and resign or commit harakiri.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that Esperon has no experience in negotiations and that a peace panel requires people “who know their jobs and who would not be taken for a fool.”

Senate President Manuel Villar said someone should be held accountable for the turnout of the peace deal that caused the escalation of atrocities in Mindanao.

In the House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker Simeon Datumanong of Maguindanao said he hoped the dissolution of the peace panel did not mean abandonment of the peace process “because it can mean all-out war.”

Added Rep. Didagen Dilangalen, also of Maguindanao: “The government is marginalizing the MILF. The MILF no longer represents the Moro people.”

Awaiting official notice

MILF leaders said they would await an official communication from the Philippine government through the Malaysian secretariat.

“Unless they formally notify Malaysia, our position is that these statements coming out of newspapers and the broadcast media remain as informal statements,” said Eid Kabalu, MILF civil-military affairs chief.

“Peace panels are not permanent. They can be dissolved and reconstituted,” Kabalu said, holding out hopes that negotiations could resume.

Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF chief negotiator, repeated an earlier position that the MOA initialed in July in Malaysia was “a done deal.”

“We hold on to it for they have initialed the document,” Iqbal said.

Double-edged sword

MILF leaders have acknowledged that its field commanders—Ameril Ombra Kato and Abdulla Macapaar—had gone on a warpath, disgruntled at the government’s failure to sign the MOA on Aug. 5 in Malaysia.

The Supreme Court halted the deal after local officials in Mindanao protested the inclusion of areas under their jurisdiction in the expanded Moro homeland and warned that the MOA would lead to the dismemberment of the Philippine republic.

The government has mounted a massive operation to hunt Kato and Macapaar, offering a P10-million reward for their capture for igniting violence that has killed at least 62 civilians and displaced close to 500,000 people, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Center. The military said 17 soldiers had died in the fighting. The MILF confirmed seven deaths.

The government has been in on-off talks with the MILF since 1997 to end a conflict that has killed 120,000 people and displaced 2 million in the south. From 2001, Malaysia has been brokering the peace talks, held in secrecy, and last month agreed to keep its 12 unarmed troops on Mindanao for another three months to help monitor the truce agreement since July 2003.

The MILF, with a 12,000-strong armed force, was formed in 1976 by Hashim Salamat, who refused to honor a peace accord that Nur Misuari’s Moro National Liberation Front forged with the government in 1996. Salamat rejected Misuari’s bid for more autonomy for the Moro homeland and sought independence instead.

Renato Reyes, secretary general of the leftist Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, said the President’s move was a “dangerous double-bladed sword” meant to appease critics of the MOA and close the door to serious peace negotiations.

He said that disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation (DDR) as a framework for peace talks was “doomed to fail.”

“The Arroyo government wants its foes to surrender even without the government addressing the fundamental causes of armed conflict. This formula has been imposed on the National Democratic Front in the past and has in fact become a hindrance to the advancement of the peace talks,” Reyes explained.

Local leaders’ involvement

In General Santos City, Mayor Pedro Acharon welcomed the government move to dissolve the peace panel.

“Local leaders must not only be consulted, but they must also be actively involved in the process so we can come up with a just, credible and lasting solution to the Mindanao problem,” Acharon said.

Amirah Ali Lidasan, national president of Suara Bangsamoro, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the scrapping of the government team indicated that it was never serious in forging peace with the MILF.

Lidasan accused Ms Arroyo of using the MOA “for her personal interest,” pointing out her earlier plan to submit the deal to a constituent assembly that critics said was aimed at prolonging her term beyond 2010. (With reports from Christine O. Avendaño, Jerome Aning, Beverly T. Natividad, Alcuin Papa, Norman Bordadora, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., TJ Burgonio in Manila; and Jeoffrey Maitem, Edwin O. Fernandez, Aquiles Z. Zonio, and Ed General, Inquirer Mindanao; and Reuters)

Arroyo orders new panel for MILF peace talks

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Sec. Teodoro: MILF now irrelevant, no peace talks

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. Tuesday ruled out the resumption of peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, saying that the MILF had become “irrelevant” after it refused to surrender its commanders blamed for attacking civilians.

Emerging from a Cabinet security cluster meeting at the Nueva Ecija convention center here, Teodoro said that disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation (DDR) would be the basis for any dialogue for peace as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had enunciated in a speech on Aug. 22.

Ms Arroyo announced the DDR policy after MILF field commanders Ameril Ombra Kato and Abdulla Macapaar, disgruntled at the cancellation of the Aug. 5 signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on an expanded Bangsamoro homeland, rampaged in Mindanao, slaughtering scores of civilians.

The government went on a counter-offensive, offering a P10-million reward for the capture of the two commanders and demanding that the MILF leadership surrender them. MILF officials rejected the demand, saying mechanisms exist in the 2003 ceasefire agreement between the government and the rebel group and that the front will deal with Kato and Macapaar.

“By saying such a thing, the MILF makes itself more irrelevant because its credibility once again is put to the test—because of its refusal to condemn the atrocities committed by some of its members.”

Besides the demand to surrender Kato and Macapaar, Malacañang added another precondition to the resumption of stalled peace talks—the disarmament of the 12,000-strong MILF force. Kato and Macapaar, also known as Commander Bravo, lead about 500-1,000 MILF fighters.

Objective is disarmament

“That is the objective of all peace talks—disarmament—not just for MILF but for all armed groups,” he said.

Teodoro lamented that about 300,000 people had been displaced by the fighting in Mindanao.

Over the past month, authorities said at least 70 civilians had been killed in the surge of violence. The military said 17 soldiers and militiamen died in the fighting. The military also said the MILF toll was 125, but the rebels confirmed only seven deaths.

Teodoro said the government was not cowed by MILF’s ability to launch more attacks.

Parameters have changed

“To me, the way they try to increase their leverage is by puffing themselves up once again, by being more intransigent, and I think they should wake up to the call of the times that this doesn’t work with the Filipino people anymore,” Teodoro said.

“It’s a counterproductive tactic,” he said. “Perhaps a bit of humility, a bit of placing their feet on the floor, a bit of acceptance of reality that arrogance does not bring you anywhere. A heady dose of that should serve a better purpose than puffing yourself up.”

The MILF central committee has not contacted the government, the defense secretary said, and that the only information the government gets are news reports that the signing of the MOA is a “sine qua non” for the MILF to resume negotiations.

“All options for dialogue shall still be used. But the parameters for the dialogue necessarily have changed,” Teodoro said. “They should look for ways to start renegotiation or whatever.”

The Supreme Court put the brakes on the signing of the MOA following protests by local Mindanao executives and claims that it contravenes the Constitution. Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera has told the court the administration will no longer sign the MOA.

Teodoro said the government was not worried that Malacañang’s decision was being interpreted by the MILF as tantamount to a declaration of war.

Door not totally closed

“Don’t take the words of MILF seriously. We have law enforcement (operation) that is continuing. The more they talk like that, their credibility is eroding. They should not only approach the government, but show good faith.

“We don’t tolerate such activities, but we just want to show them—those of them who are reasonable—we can’t totally close the door to everybody,” he said, but added that they must “do some adherence for peace.”

So far, a lot of areas have been cleared of MILF forces, Teodoro said. “So that’s a major headway. And they can’t form in large formations anymore. They can only do small groupings in the area,” he said.

“Naturally the operations will be tailored to afford greatest respect to the communities that are involved to afford them the chance to observe Ramadan in a peaceful way,” he said. But he stressed that law enforcement operations will still continue against Kato and Macapaar.

Bombing raids eased

“Because that is non-negotiable, non-bargaining point between the MILF and the government,” he said. “It’s to enforce justice in the community.”

Gen. Alexander Yano, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Tuesday elaborated on his directive to troops to make “tactical adjustments” on operations against Kato and Macapaar during the Muslim fasting month

“Tactically, artillery and air strikes will be minimized as much as practicable,” Yano said. However, he said field commanders “are not prevented to proportionately employ such firepower when extremely necessary in addressing imminent threats.”

AFP spokesperson Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said that artillery and air strikes may not be necessary now. He said the forces of Kato and Macapaar had broken down into small groups after the military overran MILF encampments and villages in Lanao del Norte and Maguindanao.

The Philippine Air Force also has been directed to ease bombing raids during Ramadan, according to PAF information chief Maj. Gerardo Zamudio Jr.