Thursday, August 28, 2008 Homeland deal 'smokescreen' for all-out war: Rebels By Edwin G. Espejo Correspondent
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- An underground Moro rebel group aligned with the National Democratic Front (NDF) has branded the botched homeland deal as "a ploy" to launch an all out offensive against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
In a statement posted in the underground Left's website, www.philippinerevolution.net, the Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization (MRLO) said US is using the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) as "springboard for its economic intervention in the Liguasan Marsh where huge natural gas deposits are reportedly to have been discovered by satellite mapping."
The NDF is the political umbrella of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA).
"The Arroyo regime is itching to drive away residents in the Liguasan Marsh and Pulangi River to pave the way for US exploration of natural gas and mineral deposits and expansion of agricultural plantations (in the area)," the MRLO statement said.
The press statement was signed by Ka Abdul, who identified himself as the MRLO spokesman.
"Like its predecessor, the Arroyo regime is using the all out war policy and at the same time dousing Moro resistance and anger by launching peace negotiations and deceptive programs of the USAID and Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) and other humanitarian missions," the statement further said.
The group also alleged that the Arroyo government is laying the groundwork for the construction of a US military base in Central Mindanao.
The MRLO, however, failed to elaborate on the issue.
In addition, the MRLO spokesman said the US is reportedly engaged in surveillance and intelligence gathering "under the guise of medical and dental missions."
US Ambassador Kristie Kenney has gone on record to express her government's support for the MOA-AD.
She was among the foreign diplomats who went to Malaysia early August to witness the supposed signing of the groundbreaking agreement between the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF.
The Supreme Court (SC), however, issued a temporary restraining order which prevented the government panel from signing the MOA that would have recognized MILF claims over a large part of Mindanao as its ancestral domain after several local government officials filed a petition to stop the signing of the accord.
Fighting thereafter erupted between the government and the Moro rebel group in several parts in Mindanao after some MILF commanders expressed disgust over the botched MOA signing in Kuala Lumpur.
More than 40 people, most of whom civilians, were already killed in the clashes that are still sporadically erupting in remote villages in Lanao del Norte and Sarangani.
