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GOVERNMENT forces have cleared five more barangays that
were occupied by separatist rebels in five towns in
North Cotabato as of Tuesday, the military said.
The
ongoing clearing operations, backed by the National
Police and all the available assets of the Armed Forces,
have so far resulted in the liberation of seven
barangays and the killing of 31 rebels and the wounding
of five others, Maj. Armand Rico, spokesman for the
Eastern Mindanao Command, said.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen.
Alexander Yano, said the military has no intention of
stopping the clearing operations despite the declaration
of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leadership
of its support to Kato.
“Unless
the MILF renegades leave peacefully, we shall continue
our clearing operations,” Yano told reporters in Camp
Aguinaldo.
Yano
said the Armed Forces has taken steps in order to ensure
that the fighting in the province will not spill over to
other places in Mindanao.
On
Monday the Armed Forces vice chief of staff, Lt. Gen.
Cardozo Luna, said the government sustained one fatality
and 12 wounded.
This
developed as MILF rebels pulled out Tuesday in North
Cotabato.
Lt. Col.
Julieto Ando, Sixth Infantry Division spokesman, said
the rebels under Commander Amelil Umbra Kato had
abandoned their position in Baliki, Midsayap, North
Cotabato early Tuesday.
“They
repositioned their forces, but we will still conduct
clearing operations to check if they already left the
site. We are also checking reports the rebels planted
some land mines,” Ando said.
MILF
civil-military affairs chief Eid Kabalu confirmed that
Kato has repositioned his men in Baliki, Ando said.
In
barangay Takepan, soldiers and policemen, led by Chief
Supt. Felizario Serapio of the Central Mindanao police
command, fired mortars on rebel positions as they
started clearing operations in the outskirts of the
village, to allow displaced residents to return to their
homes.
On
Monday night government security forces captured Moro
strongholds after a series of artillery and ground
attacks in a bid to flush out rebels illegally occupying
a community in Aleosan town.
Maj.
Randolph Cabangbang, Eastern Mindanao Command deputy
spokesman, said soldiers seized Hill 96 and Hill 100,
strongholds of MILF rebels situated in nearby barangay
Pagangan, Aleosan, after the Air Force pounded rebel
positions using OV-10 “Bronco” armed reconnaissance
planes and MG-520 attack helicopters.
At the
same time, Cabangbang said soldiers recovered the bodies
of two civilians killed by the rebels in Takepan.
“We have
deployed enough soldiers in Dalingawen and Takepan in
Pikit to augment members of the civilian volunteer
organization, militiamen and policemen,” Cabangbang
said.
“We also
resisted the entry of MILF rebels in the Pigcawayan,
Libungan and Midsayap areas through combined police and
military operations,” he added.
While
the MILF said their forces have repositioned, Kabalu
said they might be sending reinforcements to defend
their fighters in other areas in North Cotabato if
attacked by government forces.
“That’s
an option we are considering but so far there’s no
directive yet from the Central Commitee,” Kabalu said.
“Commander Kato is a legitimate MILF commander with over
2,000 followers. He is not [the leader of] a lost
command,” he added.
The
Darul Ifta (House of Opinion) in Mindanao has called on
President Arroyo to review its peace and development
policy in Mindanao amid the hostilities in North
Cotabato.
Ismael
Ibrahim, Darul Ifta spokesman, also criticized
government officials in Manila for claiming the fighting
in North Cotabato areas since Sunday were only part of a
“clearing operations.”
“If the
government is just conducting clearing operations, they
should not have used war planes, howitzers and
helicopters,” Ibrahim said.
“The
Arroyo administration must review its policy. The
property and lives of the people must not be sacrificed
just to give in to the interest of some people,” he
added.
In
statement, the Roman Catholic bishops’ leadership called
on both the rebels and soldiers to calm as they claimed
the peaceful solution to the present crisis is ideal to
end the current unrest in North Cotabato.
“For the
MILF and the government…that they should be generous to
each other for the sake of peace and unity in the
country,” said Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of
the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
(With M. de Guzman) |
