MILF to hit back only if attacked

MANILA, Philippines—In the wake of intensified military operations in Mindanao, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose forces had been accused of coddling “lawless elements,” said its fighters had been ordered to stand down and hit back only if attacked.

“We are avoiding (conflict with the government) … And in fact we have already ordered our men on the ground to be in a defensive position. That’s the order on the ground,” MILF spokesperson Von al Haq said.

He said that had been the MILF position since October 22 when it saw that its engagements with the Armed Forces had begun to escalate. The order, he added, was issued by Sammy Al-Mansoor, chief of staff of the MILF’s armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.

“We are ready (for any attack). We are not afraid of that. What we fear is the displacement of innocent civilians,” Al Haq said in a phone interview with reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.

Clarifying what the MILF meant by “defensive position,” he said “if we are pushed to the wall, we have to fight back.” “That’s very clear and practical,” he said.

He said MILF combatants were more than capable of defending themselves, but most of those in encampments attacked by government forces were civilians.

“We are mandated to protect the lives and property of our civilians, regardless of where they belong, whether Christian or Muslim,” Al Haq said.

He admitted, however, that there were also feelings of apprehension about a government offensive on MILF itself. The military had said the targets of its “all-out justice” campaign were lawless elements, some of them with links to the MILF.

“Of course (there are concerns). Where do we go? Visayas and Luzon cannot accommodate us. We have nowhere else to go,” Al Haq said.

The spokesperson also maintained the MILF position not to surrender Dan Laksaw Asnawi, an MILF commander among those involved in the beheading of 14 Marines during a 2007 clash in Al-Barka town in Basilan.

He was arrested in the aftermath of the beheading but escaped from the Basilan provincial jail in December 2009 with 30 other inmates.

On October 18, Army soldiers looking for Asnawi’s group to serve an arrest warrant ran into MILF rebels who killed 19 of them, setting off more skirmishes and prompting the government’s “all-out justice” drive against lawless elements, including those being under the MILF’s protection.

“That can’t be done,” Al Haq said of the military’s demand that the MILF turn in Asnawi to the government.

“That’s not in the process. It’s not part of the process that you’re forced your friend and brother to the enemy. With all due respect, there’s nothing in the ceasefire agreement requiring us to give up our comrade,” he said.