MANILA, Philippines—As time ticked on a 24-hour deadline for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to withdraw from occupied areas in North Cotabato province, local officials Thursday urged residents to defend themselves and vowed they would not allow them to be “sitting ducks.”

The ultimatum ends at 10 a.m. Friday.

Although defense and security officials denied their ultimatum would mean a declaration of war if the MILF did not comply, 900 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were deployed to the region.

An Army brigade also was poised to reinforce the policemen and Gen. Alexander Yano, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was dispatched to Cotabato City.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said that a “surgical calibrated police action” supported by military elements had been authorized.

The 24-hour deadline was announced during the Camp Crame press conference attended by Puno, Teodoro, PNP Director General Avelino Razon and Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. This followed a meeting on Wednesday night of the National Security Council which directed Esperon to inform the MILF of the government move.

‘Forcibly separated from area’

“War is not the answer to our problems. Government is now taking the extra mile, perhaps this can be resolved peacefully, but government will do what is possible,” Dureza said.

“We are giving these individuals 24 hours to vacate otherwise they will forcibly be separated from the area,” Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno told a news conference at Camp Crame with top defense and security officials. “We cannot allow these things to happen.”

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. urged the MILF leadership to compel its fighters to vacate the villages. “This is a litmus test of its good faith and responsibility as an organization,” he said.

800-strong MILF force

Puno said an 800-strong MILF force led by Commander Umbra Kata, who had defied MILF leaders in the past, had forced more than 6,500 people in 1,500 families to flee their homes in Midsayap and Aleosan alone.

The occupied villages were Bago-Libas, Dungguan, Pagangan, and Dualing in Aleosan; Gumaga in Libungan; central and upper Labas, Patindigin, Lagumbingan, Rangaban and Baliki in Midsayap; Cabpangi in Pigkawayan; and Gayunga in Northern Kabuntalan.

Puno said that the PNP had been receiving reports of the MILF taking villages since July 1, burning houses, destroying plantations, looting property and stealing cattle.

Fight with knives, slingshots

Around 400 armed members of civilian volunteer organizations (CVOs) under the control of local executives, mostly Christians, were preparing counteraction, Puno said and warned that the PNP would disarm them.

“I would like to remind our local executives that CVOs are not authorized to carry firearms without specific authority,” Puno said.

In the House of Representatives, Rep. Bernardo Piñol Jr. of North Cotabato said at a news conference that the MILF was sending reinforcements to the occupied villages.

“We encourage our people in the areas to defend themselves,” said Piñol, brother of North Cotabato Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol who has called Manila’s attention to the MILF activity in his towns. “We cannot allow these rebels to kill our people like sitting ducks.”

Troop deployment late

In the Senate, the congressman’s brother said in a news briefing arranged by Sen. Manuel Roxas II that he did not care if his people were armed with slingshots and knives.

“We have to stand up. It’s not the weapon in your hand that matters, it’s the courage in your heart and the principles that you stand for. Our houses might be burned, we might be attacked. But we have to fight for our homes and our children,” Emmanuel Piñol said.

The vice governor said that the announced deployment of troops was “a bit late.”

Thought it was a done deal

“It is an admission that indeed, they did not give that much importance to the problems of North Cotabato for so long,” Emmanuel Piñol said. “Any self-respecting government must defend the territories at all cost or else we will be allowing the dismemberment of our country.”

The latest flare-up of violence in Mindanao comes at a delicate moment in efforts to resolve four decades of a Moro separatist war that has left more than 120,000 people dead and 2 million displaced.

The government and the MILF on Tuesday were set to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on ancestral domain following 10 years of off-and-on negotiations, but the Supreme Court stopped the ceremony after local Mindanao officials protested the inclusion of their areas in an expanded Moro homeland without consultations.

Critics said that the broad economic and political powers accorded a proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity with its own security force spearheaded by 12,000 MILF fighters amounted to the creation of a separate state.

The MILF said that the court action was a problem of the Philippines and that as far as the MILF was concerned the MOA was a “done deal”—a position rejected by Malacañang officials who said that the accord was subject to final negotiations, an enabling law and approval in a plebiscite.

North Cotabato Gov. Jesus Sacdalan said that the MILF fighters who had occupied the villages were driven by “economics.”

“They already want the lands divided because they think (the MOA) has already been signed,” Sacdalan said.

To enforce rule of law

“We are announcing these operations to stabilize the situation and put back the rightful owners of those lands,” Esperon said. “This is not a declaration of war, this is a normal enforcement of the rule of law.”

Esperon expressed hopes that the joint government-MILF committee for the cessation of hostilities could resolve the North Cotabato impasse.

Esperon later Thursday met with ambassadors of member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. After the hour-long meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs, he told reporters that he briefed the ambassadors “about the current operations to enforce the rule of law.”

Arroyo: Monitor situation

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued orders before she left to attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing to closely monitor the situation in North Cotabato.

“Right now, there’s no major security threat,” Ermita said, “but we go by the assumption that we need to be prepared in case (MILF) splinter groups sow chaos.”

Puno said that if the MILF leadership failed to remove Kata’s men from the area, the police and the military would take “whatever action is necessary” to push out the rebels.

“I don’t think violation of law can be tolerated for purposes of avoiding conflict during this time,” Puno said.

Already serious before TRO

He explained the situation became “serious” a week ago before the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on the Bangsamoro homeland deal and set a hearing on Aug. 15.

“Because of a loss of confidence, there were some (MILF) who came in, some of the Christian settlers reacted. There was a gradual escalation. Instead of a reduction, there was an increase. We can’t let this continue,” Puno said.

Razon said the use of force will be a last resort and said he hoped peaceful negotiations and dialogue would resolve the matter.

“Our troops will defend themselves if fired upon. But we are hoping the peace process holds true,” he said.