Senator Mar Roxas, who arrived in the city Wednesday, agreed that the ongoing war in Basilan should be terminated because it is affecting the country's image.
He added that the longer the armed conflict goes on, the bigger the chanceof this spilling over into mainland Mindanao.
But a socio-civic group is convinced that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is "right in ordering an allout offensive against the terrorist groups and rogue Moro National Liberation Front elements" in the Basilan area.
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro vicar general Monsignor Rey Monsanto said Wednesday though that while the Church acknowledges the "police rights" of the government to seek justice for 14 slain Marines, 10 of whom were beheaded, still the war in the area should stop.
He said the pursuit against the "criminals" responsible for the July 10, 2007 incident in Tipo-tipo, Basilan has been undertaken in a manner that puts innocent civiliansin harms way.
"Naay mga kabataan ug mga kababainhan nato nga mga na-displace na hinoon tungod niini (There are children and women who are now displaced because of the ongoing offensive launched by the government)," he said.
He added that the displaced children and women are now suffering from "psychological trauma."
Though he does not have any suggestion as to what "military tactic" to adopt in the case, Monsanto believes there is a better way of going about it.
Roxas, who arrived in the city Wednesay, said the ongoing war should stop as it has affected the image of the country. News agencies name it as "war in the Philippines" or the "war in Mindanao" and not a "war in Basilan."
Filipino Genuine Peace and Progress spokesperson Corazon Torres, however, said the war in Basilan is "well justified and is the most appropriate counteraction" by the Arroyo administration.
She said Arroyo is right to order such a move against terrorist groups and rogue MILF elements in Basilan that "treacherously engaged the government forces in armed confrontations."
In a statement to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro, Torres said the government "must show its teeth."
"Let the Basilan and Jolo battlefields be an area for our military todemonstrate its superiority over all the assortments of terrorist organizations, kidnap-for-ransom syndicates, bandits, extremists and hostile secessionist fronts," she said.
Torres said some of their members believe that the ceasefire might "somehow be a mistake" as the group believes the "soft approach is not the language that the secessionist fronts understand."
"They took advantage of the lull to regroup, recruit, retrain and gather more arms," she said.
When the campaign is over, then Torres said the government should pursue peace talks with the MILF.
