Wednesday, October 01, 2008 Sarangani guv open to talks with Reds By Edwin G. Espejo
SARANGANI Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez said Tuesday he is willing to hold dialogue with the New People's Army (NPA).
The NPA recently issued a statement accusing Dominguez and Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol of orchestrating a massive militarization in their respective provinces "under the pretext of hot pursuit operation" against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
"The Valentine Palamine Command knows where they could get in touch with me to clarify anything they would want to resolve with me in the same manner that I can always find ways to reach to every person or group of persons that may have some issues with me," Dominguez said in a statement.
He said he will not engage the rebel group in a media war as this "is not to the best interest of the people in Sarangani."
The Valentin Palamine Command of the NPA operating in Central Mindanao headed by Ka Dencio Madrigal on Sunday said it has filed charges against Dominguez and Piñol for their alleged role in the "continuing bloodshed and unmitigated atrocities in Mindanao."
Dominguez requested for more government troops in Sarangani after the MILF launched a bloody attack at the town center of Maasim on August 18.
Two civilians were killed during the attack.
Government soldiers immediately launch massive military operations against the MILF rebels who fled to hinterlands of western Sarangani.
Until the attack, Dominguez said he maintained open lines and has been conducting consultation with MILF rebels in the province.
The governor earlier said he would not allow human rights abuses in the province "whether they are committed by rebels or government soldiers and policemen."
"I will never allow myself to be used in deceiving, intimidating and, much more, violating the human rights of the people in Sarangani," the governor said in his statement.
The governor said he would guarantee the safety of NPA rebels who would wish to meet with him.
"Come to my province and meet the people who were victims of the MILF attack and then we talk," the governor also added.
The National Democratic Front (NDF), the political umbrella of the NPA and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has forged a tactical alliance with the MILF which allowed both rebel groups to provide political and war materiel support to each other.
But NDF spokesperson recently told the MILF to adhere to the Geneva Convention and protocols on internal armed conflict.
"To win the respect, sympathy and popular support of both the Moro and the non Moro people, all armed Moro revolutionary forces in the conduct of waging armed struggle must adhere to international laws of war and the Protocols of war on internal armed conflict," NDF Mindanao spokesperson Ka Oris said in a statement released earlier this month.
