Tuesday, August 26, 2008 No food blockade on GSC-Palimbang highway By Edwin G. Espejo Contributor
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The military denied reports that it has imposed a food blockade along the General Santos-Palimbang highway as claimed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
"There is no truth to that," Brigadier General Gaudencio Pangilinan, chief of 1002nd Philippine Army Brigade based in Sarangani, said over the phone Monday.
He, however, confirmed that several military checkpoints were set up along the highway leading to Palimbang, a coastal town some 140 kilometers from this city.
But Pangilinan said the checkpoints were installed to ensure free flow of goods.
He also said members of the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) and several European embassy representatives have already visited several evacuation centers in Maasim to check on the conditions on the ground.
"We told the ICRC and the European diplomats that we are encouraging people to go back to their communities," he said.
In a statement posted on its website, www.luwaran.com, the MILF said its armed regulars have shot down a government helicopter, which reportedly caught fire and landed somewhere in General Santos City.
The MILF also said the military has imposed food and medicine embargo to reportedly "starve" its mujahideens (holy warriors).
Fighting erupted in Maasim, Sarangani after MILF fighters raided the town proper and tried to overrun the police headquarters last August 18.
Policemen on duty were able to ward off the attackers, but two civilians were killed and another was wounded in the dawn attack.
The military since then has been launching military operations to track down some 80 MILF regulars who fled towards the mountainous portion of western Sarangani.
The ongoing skirmishes have already caused the evacuation of hundreds of families.
According to the military, one soldier was already killed and another was wounded since the fighting broke out.
Military's latest account also said that at least 10 MILF rebels were alleged killed. This report, however, could not be independently verified.
The MILF rebels who are being hunted down by the military are reportedly headed by a certain Palimbang-based commander Alo Binago and some elements sympathetic to Ameril Umbra Kato, who led the occupation of several towns in North Cotabato earlier this month.
