Keep peace in sight

The Filipino people should resist the temptation to take the eye-for-an-eye stance in the face of the recent deaths in various parts of Mindanao of a total of 29 soldiers and five civilians at the hands of the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The full weight of the law, however, should fall on those who ambushed our soldiers in a shameless, stinging slap to the government of President Benigno Aquino III who has enthusiastically played the dove—trusting in peace negotiations with the renegades, that is—in his effort to bring peace to troubled Mindanao.

Ambush is a stain on the “Islamic” in the MILF, if its adherents really believe in an Allah who said: “Take not life, which Allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus does He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.” (al-An’am 6:151)

Yet in the same manner, if the mostly Christian military gives free rein to the utak pulbura and magkaubusan na tayo mentalities that are the hallmarks of anarchists, they, too, will fall short of the dictums of their faith and increase the nation’s losses. We would lose the peace for this and future generations of Mindanaoans on top of having lost our brave, heroic troops.

All rabblerousing should cease immediately. Those who encourage a coup d’etat supposedly for the military to oust the President and install in his place a leader more sympathetic to the cause of crushing the MILF by force are being seduced by the delusion that war will beget peace.

Still, the government ought not to give the impression that it will sweep under the rug  ambushes and every other form of violence perpetrated by the MILF. The State must not allow itself to be bullied. It must examine every option it has to let the MILF know that its murderous brattiness in a time of ceasefire will not be tolerated.

President Aquino revealed that at least two military officials involved in the crossfire with the MILF have been relieved following an investigation. That, at the very least, should shame the rebels into productive navel-gazing. The MILF needs to admit where it went wrong and offer conciliatory gestures.

Malacañang announced the release of P10 billion for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. If this will translate to improved training and equipment for our troops, the better for them to fend off the enemy in ambushes, so be it. But let this not be a tacit instigation to further the turmoil in the Promised Land of the South.

We commiserate with the families of the fallen, both military and civilian. But if a time of ceasefire led to the loss of the lives of at least 29 Filipinos, can we expect the inauguration of an all-out war against the MILF to ease the groaning of Mindanao?

Ousted president Joseph Estrada made a clanging cameo appearance egging President Aquino to start an all-out war. Good thing former president Fidel Ramos cut him short, reminding the public that Estrada’s all-out war against the MILF made internal refugees of one million Mindanaoans who were displaced.

The public needs to shield their ears from the words of provocateurs. President Aquino is right. Another all-out war in Mindanao will exact a “high price in blood.”