Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Cagas: Arms won't win war vs rebellion
THE new Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) chair doubts that the Armed Forces of the Philippines will be able to meet its target of eliminating the insurgency movement before the highly anticipated 2010 presidential elections.
Davao del Sur Governor Douglas Ra. Cagas, the RPOC-Southern Mindanao chair, said he is doubtful that the insurgency movement will be eliminated by 2010, at least based on the way things are going.
"You cannot fight an ideology with arms force, you have to fight it with another ideology, the ideology of good governance," Cagas said.
As if taunting the government and its troops, the rebel group has intensified its attacks, especially here in Southern Mindanao with a rampage of attacks on both government and private installations.
The rebel group recently attacked a mining firm and torched one of the drilling equipment there.
However, the military remains firm on its stand to put an end to the problem of insurgency in the country, including the countryside, by 2010.
"We are doing our best to curb them to an inconsequential level," Major General Armando Cunanan, commanding general of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said.
Cunanan added that people should be more critical of the rebel group rather than the military and police.
Undaunted by the recent string of attacks perpetrated by the rebel group, Cunanan challenged them to a face-off.
"I challenge them to fight our soldiers in open ground, and we shall see who is stronger," he said. (CPM)
