Calls to end bombings rise as 30,000 flee homes

Calls for a halt to military bombings grew more strident Thursday as close to 30,000 residents reportedly fled their homes in Zamboanga Sibugay and Basilan provinces.

Mary Ann Arnado of the Mindanao People’s Caucus which organized Bantay Ceasefire, urged an immediate end to air strikes on Payao and adjoining towns in Sibugay.

“What is that all-out justice? How come there are ground strikes and bombardment? There are now more than 12,000 people displaced in three municipalities who have nothing to do with the lawless elements,” Arnado said in a phone interview from Zamboanga City.

Arnado, who hours earlier visited Payao and Alicia towns, said the “all-out justice” campaign against the lawless elements could not be served “by committing another injustice to innocent civilians who are now displaced as a collateral damage.”

In a statement Thursday, US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. said, “We fully support the ongoing peace process and hope the parties can avoid violence and continue to work toward an agreement that will provide for a peaceful and prosperous future.”

In a similar statement, Australian Ambassador Rod Smith welcomed the affirmation by both the government and the MILF to the peace process. At the same time, he expressed Canberra’s “deep concern about the recent violence in Mindanao.”

As of Wednesday, some 19,066 residents had moved out of their homes in Zamboanga Sibugay, while the number of evacuees in Basilan rose to 9,481, according to social welfare officials in Region 9.

Run for peace

In Manila, activist priest Fr. Robert Reyes, Imam Abdulbashet Marangit and Jolly Lais of the Bangsamoro Solidarity Movement aired the same call for a halt to the bombings and a return to the negotiating table.

The three, joined by Muslim youth clad in white shirts with the message “Peace is my only option,” ran for peace from Quezon Memorial Circle to Scouts Jamboree Monument on Tomas Morato Avenue in Quezon City, where they said prayers.

Reyes said the government should realize that “exterminating the enemy” was not the solution to the fresh hostilities in Mindanao triggered by ambushes of soldiers in Basilan.

Lais observed: “It’s very painful to see that civilians are suffering from the bombardment.  It’s ironic that communities that have disowned the lawless elements they’re running after are suffering. What’s  happening on the ground is inconsistent with the government’s all-out justice because there are many victims.”

Imam Marangit of Manila Grand Mosque in Quiapo said: “Christians or Muslims, we’re all united in our search for peace in Mindanao. The military is running after criminal groups, and there’s no need to use bombs. Pity the civilians, Christians or Muslims. Let’s stop the bombings and continue the peace talks.”

Negotiations urged

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Wednesday pressed the military to halt its bombings, warning that people had been deprived of their right to lead normal lives.

“These particular acts of the military resulted in violations of economic and social rights of the people,” the CHR said in a statement.

It warned that an “all-out war” would only result in mass human rights violations, more internally displaced communities and a perpetuation of the generational cycle of violence in Mindanao.

“In particular, the CHR strongly condemns the atrocities of the rogue elements under international humanitarian law,” it said, referring to the 19 soldiers killed last week. Six of the soldiers were captured, executed and their bodies mutilated, it said.

The CHR called on the government and the MILF to “come to the negotiation table in good faith and with genuine peace as the utmost objective” and commit that “no similar incident will ever happen again in the future.”

Human trafficking

The Pasay City-based Blas F. Ople Policy Center on Thursday appealed to the government to provide emergency employment and livelihood assistance to the displaced families.

Former Labor Undersecretary Susan Ople, president of the center, said in a statement that the escalation of hostilities would lead to an even higher incidence of human trafficking in the region. With reports from Jerome Aning and Jerry E. Esplanada