COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 22, 2008) – Government forces clashed Monday with suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the southern Philippines, as troops continue their hunt for 3 rogue commanders blamed for deadly attacks in Mindanao Island, officials said.
The fighting erupted in Poona Piagapo town in Lanao del Norte, but there were no reports of casualties from both sides. But fierce clashes over the weekend left one government militia dead and four more wounded in Maguindanao province.
Officials said MILF forces attacked a government patrol base, sparking a firefight that also left a still undetermined number of rebels dead and wounded. “At least 30 MILF rebels under Kagui Baddy were involved in the attack that killed one of our militias,” Major Armand Rico, a spokesman for the Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said security forces were still tracking down rogue rebels headed by Ameril Kato, Abdurahman Macapaar and Sulayman Panglian in Mindanao. The three were tagged as behind the series of attacks last month in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Sarangani provinces that left dozens of civilians dead.
Rebels launched the attacks after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of the territorial deal between Manila and the MILF, which is fighting for a separate homeland in Mindanao, because many of its provisions were unconstitutional.
But the MILF said the peace panels have initially signed the Muslim homeland agreement in July in Malaysia, which is brokering the talks and it would not renegotiate the agreement.
Government peace negotiators and President Gloria Arroyo’s emissaries rushed the signing of the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, so she can include it in her state of the nation address on July 28.
The controversial deal also sparked massive protests from politicians opposed to the agreement that would have granted about four million Muslims their homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao.
Arroyo later scrapped the Muslim homeland deal and abolished the government team negotiating with the MILF and suspended the peace talks and vowed to achieve peace in the restive region through dialogues and consultations with the communities and political leaders.
The fighting erupted in Poona Piagapo town in Lanao del Norte, but there were no reports of casualties from both sides. But fierce clashes over the weekend left one government militia dead and four more wounded in Maguindanao province.
Officials said MILF forces attacked a government patrol base, sparking a firefight that also left a still undetermined number of rebels dead and wounded. “At least 30 MILF rebels under Kagui Baddy were involved in the attack that killed one of our militias,” Major Armand Rico, a spokesman for the Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said security forces were still tracking down rogue rebels headed by Ameril Kato, Abdurahman Macapaar and Sulayman Panglian in Mindanao. The three were tagged as behind the series of attacks last month in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Sarangani provinces that left dozens of civilians dead.
Rebels launched the attacks after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of the territorial deal between Manila and the MILF, which is fighting for a separate homeland in Mindanao, because many of its provisions were unconstitutional.
But the MILF said the peace panels have initially signed the Muslim homeland agreement in July in Malaysia, which is brokering the talks and it would not renegotiate the agreement.
Government peace negotiators and President Gloria Arroyo’s emissaries rushed the signing of the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, so she can include it in her state of the nation address on July 28.
The controversial deal also sparked massive protests from politicians opposed to the agreement that would have granted about four million Muslims their homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao.
Arroyo later scrapped the Muslim homeland deal and abolished the government team negotiating with the MILF and suspended the peace talks and vowed to achieve peace in the restive region through dialogues and consultations with the communities and political leaders.
Arroyo's allies in Congress have earlier proposed to amend the Constitution to change the system of government from presidential to parliamentary or federalism.
But militant groups have repeatedly accused Arroyo of using the peace talks with the MILF to amend the Constitution and eventually prolong her to stay into power.
Under the presidential form of government, Arroyo is allowed only one six-year term. In the charter change proposal suggested by her political allies who dominate Congress, she can be elected as prime minister should Congress dissolve the Senate and change the system of government to parliamentary and eventually prolong her into power beyond 2010.
Arroyo deposed President Joseph Estrada in a people power revolution in 2001, but corruption scandals in her government and allegations of poll fraud in 2004 has made her extremely unpopular.
The MILF blamed Arroyo and hawkish factions in the government for the collapse of the seven-year old peace talks and warned that a bigger war could erupt if the military continues its offensives against the rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)
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