COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 31, 2008) – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Thursday assailed North Cotabato officials for passing a resolution urging Manila to remove the head of a government cease-fire committee for failing to prevent rebel attacks.
Provincial legislators passed the resolution after Vice Governor Emmanuel Pinol accused MILF rebels of attacking government militias and burning civilian houses in North Cotabato. Fighting escalated in the province after rebels and militias clashed sporadically since last week.
The resolution, Pinol said, calls for the immediate relief of Army Brig. Reynaldo Sealana.
The MILF, which is currently negotiating with the government, has recently signed a deal with Manila on ancestral domain that included parts of North Cotabato province in the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity that will make up a separate homeland for Muslims in Mindanao.
Pinol, the former governor of North Cotabato, is opposing the inclusion of the province in the ancestral domain and rejected government’s proposal to hold a plebiscite on the areas under the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.
Pinol accused Sealana of ignoring calls by provincial leaders to sanction the MILF for the attacks, which was a violation of the truce agreement. Sealana said the fighting in the province was triggered by a long-time feud between rebels and militias.
Politicians suggested that Sealana was siding with the MILF.
The MILF said militias, used as private armies of politicians in North Cotabato, were attacking rebel forces in the province, sparking clashes that left several people wounded from both sides the past weeks. It said militias would often attack MILF areas with mortars.
The military said sporadic clashes have forced thousands of villagers to flee their homes for fear they would be trapped in the cross-fire.
The rebel group also branded as unfair the resolution passed by the North Cotabato Provincial Board Council.
“Gen Sealana is not defending the MILF with what is happening in Aleosan, Cotabato for the past weeks. Gen. Sealana is merely doing his mandate, without any reservation, to protect and sustain the ceasefire on the ground and to uphold the primacy of the peace process,” said Toks Ebrahim, Sealana’s counterpart in the MILF.
“My counterpart is doing very well and it is so unfair that an ouster call was imputed on him,” Ebrahim said.
The MILF also wanted the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is composed of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao and Maguindanao province, including Marawi City, postponed until after the peace agreement is signed.
The ARMM is also included in the MILF ancestral domain and also some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao and Palawan in central Philippines where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. (Mindanao Examiner)
Provincial legislators passed the resolution after Vice Governor Emmanuel Pinol accused MILF rebels of attacking government militias and burning civilian houses in North Cotabato. Fighting escalated in the province after rebels and militias clashed sporadically since last week.
The resolution, Pinol said, calls for the immediate relief of Army Brig. Reynaldo Sealana.
The MILF, which is currently negotiating with the government, has recently signed a deal with Manila on ancestral domain that included parts of North Cotabato province in the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity that will make up a separate homeland for Muslims in Mindanao.
Pinol, the former governor of North Cotabato, is opposing the inclusion of the province in the ancestral domain and rejected government’s proposal to hold a plebiscite on the areas under the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.
Pinol accused Sealana of ignoring calls by provincial leaders to sanction the MILF for the attacks, which was a violation of the truce agreement. Sealana said the fighting in the province was triggered by a long-time feud between rebels and militias.
Politicians suggested that Sealana was siding with the MILF.
The MILF said militias, used as private armies of politicians in North Cotabato, were attacking rebel forces in the province, sparking clashes that left several people wounded from both sides the past weeks. It said militias would often attack MILF areas with mortars.
The military said sporadic clashes have forced thousands of villagers to flee their homes for fear they would be trapped in the cross-fire.
The rebel group also branded as unfair the resolution passed by the North Cotabato Provincial Board Council.
“Gen Sealana is not defending the MILF with what is happening in Aleosan, Cotabato for the past weeks. Gen. Sealana is merely doing his mandate, without any reservation, to protect and sustain the ceasefire on the ground and to uphold the primacy of the peace process,” said Toks Ebrahim, Sealana’s counterpart in the MILF.
“My counterpart is doing very well and it is so unfair that an ouster call was imputed on him,” Ebrahim said.
The MILF also wanted the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is composed of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao and Maguindanao province, including Marawi City, postponed until after the peace agreement is signed.
The ARMM is also included in the MILF ancestral domain and also some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao and Palawan in central Philippines where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. (Mindanao Examiner)
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