Lawmakers, local execs one in opposing all-out war

MANILA, Philippines—Several local officials and lawmakers on Saturday declined to back calls for an all-out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Treñas cautioned against declaring war against the MILF amid public outrage over the deaths of 44 police commandos in Sunday’s clash with MILF guerrillas.

He said such calls could be just an attempt to incite more violence in Mindanao at the time the government had already forged a peace deal with the rebels, and while Congress was working on the Bangsamoro Basic Law on order to concretize it.

Treñas said that while the nation was hurting with the treacherous massacre of 44 members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force, an all-out war against the MILF was exactly what Islamic extremist groups like al-Qaida, Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf would want to happen.

“Our rage and our yearning for vengeance should not cloud our sense of reason. Waging an all-our war against the MILF will only aggravate the situation in Mindanao,” he said.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza meanwhile told the Inquirer by phone that civilians would be at the losing end again if another all-out war broke out.

Mendoza said that while she did not want war, she was in favor of a military operation “directed against those who slaughtered our men and the civilian victims.”

Mayor Zamzamin Ampatuan of Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao, whose town had also been recently rocked by violence, said an all-out war would mean that no area would be spared.

Strengthen peace process

Like Mendoza, Ampatuan believed that a military operation should have specific targets to spare civilians from the cost of war.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, speaking on the sidelines of the peace and order meeting held in Buluan, Maguindanao, stressed the need to strengthen the peace process.

“Sustaining the momentum of the peace process, which we have painstakingly supported from the very beginning, should be the goal,” he said.

Among the approved resolutions during the meeting was to compel village officials to report the presence of “undesirable individuals or groups” in their areas.

In Cotabato City, Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo called for sobriety amid calls for an all-out war against the MILF.

Quevedo said what should be done, as wisdom demands, “is to hold back the natural response of revenge and desire to break off the peace process.”

“Peace talks remain to be the surest way to attain peace,” Muslimin Sema, a veteran of wars under the Moro National Liberation Front, said.

Salma Pir Rasul, executive director of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID), said that while the Mamasapano incident was tragic, it should not hold hostage the peace process.

Reject calls to abandon

In Zamboanga City, Basilan Rep. Jim Salliman Hataman rejected calls to abandon the peace deal with the MILF.

“Any abrogation move would only reinforce damage to our country,” Hataman said, adding that for decades now, Mindanao has been suffering from war.

Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said the peace process “if sustained will contribute to peace-building.”

Arlyn Jawad, a councilor of Lamitan City, said what was needed was “peace that is just and lasting.”

South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Fuentes and Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle Salazar called for justice for the 44 slain SAF troopers. The two called for punitive action against those responsible.

Zamboanga City 1st District Rep. Celso Lobregat, who is also against all-out war against the MILF, pushed for “a fair, acceptable and feasible Bangsamoro Basic Law within the bounds of the Constitution.” DJ Yap, Allan Nawal and Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao with additional reports from Julie Alipala, Nash Maulana and Allan Nawal