AFP to MILF factions: End fight or face Army
COTABATO CITY—The Armed Forces of the Philippines leadership in Central Mindanao has warned the warring members of erstwhile rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to let cool heads dominate instead of resorting to armed fighting that has put at risk other people not party to their dispute.
If not, they could face the full might of government security forces.
Maj. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, commander of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division, issued the warning after former Moro rebels belonging to three base commands of the MILF slugged out with each other on Wednesday in a bid to take control of some 280 hectares of rice lands in Barangay Kilangan of Pagalungan town in Maguindanao del Sur.
“For the past several months, we have reports about MILF infighting here and there … The Army will not hesitate to use its firepower if armed hostilities involving MILF (members) like in Pagalungan will continue, especially if the safety of civilians are at stake,” Nafarrete said on Friday.
The armed clashes that erupted on Wednesday afternoon had sent hundreds of villagers scampering away to safety, an experience that many families thought was a thing of the past as the Moro rebellion had already concluded with the 2014 peace deal between the MILF and the government.
Disarm all
The hostilities between the group of Datu Alonto Sultan of the 105th base command and Akmad “Dandua” Ikot of the 129th base command, killed 14 of their followers and injured five more.
According to Lt. Col. Rowel Gavilanes, commanding officer of the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion, Ikot’s group was aided by the forces of the 128th base command, led by a certain Commander Bawsi.
Nafarrete, also commander of the AFP’s Joint Task Force Central, said incidents like in Pagalungan could be avoided if the final phase of the decommissioning process of former MILF combatants and their weapons is completed.
According to studies by the group International Alert, guns are the primary means used to inflict violence in communities in the Bangsamoro region, like in vengeful killings perpetrated due to deep-seated animosities, especially over competing ownership of land.
Decommissioning is mandated in the 2014 peace deal to ensure that MILF weapons are “put beyond use.”
Nafarrete said the military has filed a complaint before the government Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities against the leaders of the MILF’s 105th, 128th and 129th base commands for violating the ceasefire agreement during their bloody encounters last Wednesday.
During clearing operations done following Wednesday’s clashes, soldiers recovered four M16 rifles, one M14 rifle, a caliber .45 pistol and assorted ammunition, and these underwent ballistic examination.
Troops presence
Tensions in Kilangan had mostly died down with Army and police troops remaining in the village to support efforts by local officials and the MILF leadership to settle the dispute peacefully.
Gavilanes said they were also working with the MILF ceasefire committee to establish measures to avoid a repeat of Wednesday’s incident, which was the bloodiest fight, so far, related to the land ownership dispute in Kilangan involving Sultan and Ikot.
On Friday, Pagalungan Vice Mayor Abdilah Mamasabulod said about 30 families living near the encounter site expressed reluctance to return home unless their safety is guaranteed by the military and local leaders. —WITH A REPORT FROM DREMA Q. BRAVO
