Elusive peace

EDITORIAL

Even with the coming of the yuletide season, President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III has been criticized for his “inaction” or “over-action” in making this country more peaceful.

With all this brouhaha with former President Arroyo, P-Noy was also criticized earlier in the wake of the death of 19 Army Special Forces troops who were reportedly ambushed by Muslim Islamic Liberation Front rebels Oct. 18, in Al-Barka, Basilan province.

There is still no peace with the communist New People’s Army. Factions of the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army are still projecting themselves as saviors of the region’s constituents even if they have been accused of a lot of human rights violations in the past.

In the case of the MILF, since there is an existing ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF, MILF spokesman MohagherIqbal claimed the military deliberately attacked the MILF group and accused them of intruding into their “area of temporary stay.”

Claiming that the government violated the ceasefire agreement, Iqbal indicated that MILF is going to file a protest-complaint before the International Monitoring Team. However, an Army spokesman disputed Iqbal’s allegation.

He said that the troops were on a mission to serve an arrest warrant to wanted Abu Sayyaf commander Long Malat in Barangay Cambug -- four kilometers away from MILF’s “area of temporary stay” – when they were ambushed.

Days later, a series of atrocities were reportedly launched by the MILF against police and military targets in ZamboangaSibugay province, killing at least eight soldiers and policemen.

An Army spokesman said that if the MILF were behind the ambushes, then these would be clear ceasefire violations because the MILF doesn’t have an “area of temporary stay” in encounter sites.

The MILF’s “areas of temporary stay” (ATS) were established when the cease agreement between the government and the MILF was signed in July 1997. The ATS are monitored by the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT), which investigates ceasefire violations as well as military intrusions.

In other words, the ATS are safe havens where the 11,000-strong MILF enjoys virtual autonomy without any government interference.

The government’s military forces are not allowed to enter or conduct pursuit operations inside the ATS. The ATS are, in essence, inviolable territories of the MILF for as long as the ceasefire agreement is in effect.

In 2000, then President Joseph “Erap” Estrada abolished the ceasefire agreement and waged an all-out war against the MILF. In response, the MILF declared “jihad” or holy war against the government. When then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took over the presidency in 2001, the government and the MILF entered into another ceasefire agreement and resumed the peace talks.

P-Noy is not sold on waging an all-out war against the MILF. He said that it would not help improve the situation in Mindanao. Instead, last October 24, he vowed an “all-out justice” campaign against the “lawless elements” responsible for the skirmishes in Basilan, ZamboangaSibugay, and Lanaodel Norte, which have claimed the lives of 34 soldiers and civilians.

Ultimately, P-Noy has to deal with the biggest challenge of all: There will be no peace in Mindanao or anywhere else in the country unless social and economic justice is resolved. However, even if peace were achieved, it would not last long without prosperity.