|
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Hold your horses, Arroyo tells military on Moro group’s war threat
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday calmed down the Armed Forces leadership following a threat by the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to go war due to the stalled peace process.
Military public information office chief Bartolome Bacarro said the President has directed Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon to give "primacy" to the ongoing talks with the rebel group.
Bacarro said the presidential directive was relayed to Esperon by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita over the phone. Bacarro said the military is abiding by the orders of the President.
“The instruction coming from the President is to give primacy to the peace process and the Armed Forces intends to do just that and the Armed Forces will observe all existing regulations, we will observe the (2002) ceasefire, on suspension of hostilities,” said Bacarro.
MILF chief negotiator Mohaquer Iqbal on Tuesday said: “We can afford to go to war, especially now that the government is in a hurry to and it is setting aside what we had agreed upon (on ancestral domain issue).”
Formal peace negotiations between the government and the MILF bogged down early this month because of disagreements on the ancestral domain issue, the second to the last substantive agenda of the ongoing talks.
Bacarro said the military has not monitored any movement of secessionist rebels to show that the secessionist group is indeed gearing for war. The MILF’s current strength is pegged at around 11,000 men with about 8,000 firearms.
He also said the military is on alert against possible provocateurs that may intend to take advantage of the situation and sabotage the peace process. (VR/Sunnex)
(September 21, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
