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→PEACETALK: Five good reasons why we should go for peace, not war
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== | ==‘Surgical strike’ backed== | ||
*Source: http://www. | *Source: http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/news/top-stories/16037-surgical-strike-backed | ||
* Tuesday, October 25, 2011 | |||
:By Ryan Ponce Pacpaco | |||
MUSLIM lawmakers yesterday strongly endorsed surgical strike against perpetrators of the series of fatal attacks on government forces, but rejected all-out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front as this would endanger the lives of innocent people. | |||
In a press conference, Tawi-Tawi Rep. Nur Jaafar said “a surgical operation should be adopted against the perpetrators of this heinous crime. We have to unleash the full might of our law.” | |||
Jaafar stressed that a surgical operation “can be done with good intelligence report with the cooperation of the local authorities. In this way, civilians won’t suffer. We don’t want an all-out war because we know the collateral damage – non-combatants and civilians.” | |||
He sought the review of the existing ceasefire agreement with the MILF which he said is “duty-bound to police their ranks so that these untoward incidents won’t happen again.” | |||
“The provisions on disciplining their (MILF) ranks must be included in the ceasefire agreement, so that other groups won’t be able to use them (as shields from liability),” he said. | |||
In the same press conference, Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman urged the MILF leadership to turn over the violators of the ceasefire agreement “to complement the efforts of the government.” | |||
“The GPH and the MILF should discuss how to deal with these perpetrators,” he said. “Such provisions should be in the ceasefire agreement.” | |||
House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman urged President Benigno Aquino III to “convene soonest the National Security Council (NSC) to rationally and effectively address the escalating carnage being repeatedly committed by MILF rebels against government soldiers and civilians.” | |||
“The President must not rely on the bungling assessment of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the amateurish pronouncements of Presidential spokespersons,” said Lagman. | |||
House Deputy Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez filed House Resolution No. 1841 calling on the House Committee on National Defense and Security to investigate the effects of Al-Barka incident to the peace negotiations between the government and MILF. | |||
==Mindanao lawmakers call for review of ceasefire agreement== | |||
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/10/24/mindanao-lawmakers-call-review-ceasefire-agreement-186809 | |||
*Monday| October 24, 2011 | *Monday| October 24, 2011 | ||
:By | :By Kathrina Alvarez/Jonathan de Santos/SDF/Sunnex | ||
(UPDATED) The ceasefire agreement with Moro rebels must be reviewed if the government wants to bring long-awaited peace in Mindanao, Muslim lawmakers said Monday. | |||
“We have to review the existing ceasefire agreement. The MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) is duty bound to police their ranks so that these untoward incidents won’t happen again,” Tawi-Tawi Representative Nur Jaafar said in a press briefing. | |||
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"The provisions on disciplining their (MILF) ranks must be included in the ceasefire agreement, so that other groups won’t be able to use them," said the lawmaker adding that some lawless elements or other rebel groups use the MILF to shield themselves from any liability. | |||
The MILF claimed responsibility for last week’s bloody ambush attack, which claimed the lives of 19 Special Forces soldiers. They were also responsible for the twin attacks in Zamboanga Sibugay on October 20. | |||
On Sunday, four civilians were included in the eight recorded fatalities out of two separate attacks believed to be committed also by the MILF. | |||
In its official website, the MILF claimed that it was the military which violated the ceasefire agreement after the latter attacked an area “where innocent civilians are being caught in the middle of the ferocious artillery strike”. | |||
“This attack of the government forces blatantly violated the existing ceasefire accord between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and MILF, which only overstates the insincerity of the government and its armed forces with the ongoing peace process and ceasefire,” the group said referring to the incident in Basilan. | |||
Meanwhile, Muslim legislators urged the public to respect the decision of Aquino to continue the government’s pursuit of peace as a declaration of an all-out war against the rebel group may harm hundreds of civilians. | |||
Jaafar, together with Representatives Jim Hataman-Saliman (Basilan), Bai Sandra Sema (Maguindanao and Cotabato City), Pangalian Balindong (Lanao del Sur) and Nur-ana Sahidulla (Sulu) expressed this position considering their constituents which may greatly be affected by such move. | |||
"Once (the) President declares war, it is not only Mindanao but the whole Philippines (that) will be affected," Sema noted. | |||
Like President Aquino, they said an investigation should first be conducted if there were lapses on the side of the government troops. | |||
Balindong, for his part, noted that the public should remain vigilant against anyone or any group who would take advantage of the situation to sow more fear and disorder. | |||
"We must support pursuit operations against lawless elements, but not | |||
against the MILF. The just response to aggression must be discriminate; it must be directed only against unjust aggressors, not against innocent people caught up in a war not of their making,” he said in a press statement. | |||
Senators call for end to ceasefire, direct action | |||
Calls for suspension of the ceasefire agreement resounded in the halls of the Senate as well. Senator Francis Pangilinan, a member of President Benigno Aquino III's Liberal Party, said the ceasefire should be lifted after reports of continued MILF attacks that have killed seven more, five of whom were civilians. | |||
"We also urge the President to suspend peace talks with the MILF temporarily. The GPH (Philippine government) and the MILF must first strengthen the mechanisms of the peace talks, specifically the provisions on ceasefire violations,” he said. | |||
"Ceasefire violations are a hindrance to genuine peace talks. The strengthening of mechanisms against such violations is crucial to both parties moving forward with the peace negotiations. This must include provisions on bringing to justice those perpetrators who, with their actions—regardless of their motives—have resulted in the loss of lives,” he added. | |||
In a separate statement released Monday morning, Pangilinan said rogue elements of the rebel group should be met with "the full force of the law." | |||
“We cannot simply turn a blind eye to the murderous and lawless armed elements in the area, who, with treachery, take advantage of the restraint exercised by our men in uniform out of respect for the peace process,” he said in a press statement. | |||
In a text message to Sun.Star, the senator made clear that he was not blaming a clash in Basilan that left 19 soldiers dead on MILF "lost commands," or MILF members who have gone rogue. He said he meant rogue members of the group in general. | |||
"We should continue to talk peace with the MILF but we should show no mercy for the murderous lost commands. We trust that the MILF will agree that these lost commands should be dealt with the full force of the law," he said. He changed his stance on peace talks Monday afternoon. | |||
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, on Monday, also said Philippine security forces should be allowed to enter MILF "areas of temporary stay" to go after lawless elements. | |||
She said pursuit operations against criminals fall under "military necessity" as defined under the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, which was passed in 2009. | |||
The law defines military necessity as "necessity of employing measures, which are indispensable to achieve a legitimate aim of the conflict and are not otherwise prohibited by International Humanitarian Law." | |||
She said military necessity "trumps any ceasefire agreement." She said this in reaction to recent MILF attacks in Basilan that left soldiers and plantation workers dead. | |||
The senator added the MILF should be made accountable for the attacks because of command responsibility. She said if the MILF cannot | |||
rein its forces in, "there would be no point continuing peace talks with them.” | |||
With plantation workers among the casualties in an ambush in Lanao Del Norte, Santiago said "the rebels are guilty of war crimes.” | |||
"We don’t have to wait for the next round of peace talks in Kuala Lumpur. Great necessity requires great action to defend the state. We do not need the approval of the International Monitoring Team or the MILF,” she said. | |||
She warned that if the government continues to stay out of these areas of temporary stay, the military will be “so severely hampered in its law enforcement functions that the Philippines would be flirting with the status of a failed state.” | |||
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, from Cagayan de Oro, menwhile said that although he understands the sentiments of people, including fellow lawmakers, calling for a military assault on the MILF, "we should look at the over-all picture and seek lasting peace even as we demand that the perpetrators be brought to justice." | |||
He said that as a lawmaker from Mindanao, he "knows first-hand" that Mindanao's peace and order problem is rooted in poverty. He said the solution lies not in military action but in going back to the negotiating table. “All-out war against the MILF will only exacerbate the socio-economic conditions in Muslim Mindanao," he warned. | |||
The senator, who joined the Senate majority bloc when he took office in August, said he will support President Benigno Aquino III's decision to push through with peace talks with the MILF. | |||
For its part, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a pastoral letter on Monday, appealing to its followers to continue pushing for peace, which it says is the best way to end the conflict in Mindanao. | |||
"Nobody wins in a war; let us renounce violence’ let us not allow these violent acts of lawless elements to provoke us to further violence," CBCP president Nereo Odchimar said in a pastoral letter. | |||
The series of violent events, including the killing of an Italian priest, has prompted a "reflex reaction" among other sectors who are in favor of an all-out war against the MILF. | |||
"The reactions are valid, and the perpetrators of these dastardly acts must indeed be pursued relentlessly and brought to justice," he reiterated, adding that time, energy and resources have also been invested for peace-building. | |||
==Bangun Ra'ayat expands to other Tawi-tawi towns== | ==Bangun Ra'ayat expands to other Tawi-tawi towns== | ||