Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Peace team not held hostage: officials
MANILA -- Military officials on Monday brushed aside reports that Marine Major General Ben Mohammad Dolorfino and his companions were held captive by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Panamao town in Sulu.
Armed Forces public information officer Bartolome Bacarro said Dolorfino has stressed that they merely accepted the invitation of MNLF leader Ustadz Habier Malik to remain in the MNLF camp last Friday morning.
Dolorfino and his group, which included Undersecretary Ramon Santos of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, went to the MNLF camp in the Bitan-ag complex to discuss two clashes between MNLF and government forces in the province.
Dolorfino, head of the military's National Capital Region Command, met Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Monday afternoon in Camp Aguinaldo to discuss matters relating to their experience in Sulu.
Dolorfino went to Sulu in his capacity as a participant in government's "roadmap for peace" in Sulu. He also co-chairs the Government-Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)-Joint Action Group that oversees military and MILF operations.
"They were invited (to stay). We are treating the incident that way. They were invited and General Dolorfino and Undersecretary (Ramon) Santos acceded to the invitation of Ustadz Malik," said Bacarro.
Dolorfino said the group of Malik asked his group to remain in the MNLF camp until the issue of the postponed tripartite meeting between the government, MNLF, and the Organization of Islamic Liberation (OIC) from February 6 to 8 was resolved.
Dolorfino, Santos, and the other members of their group were allowed to leave the MNLF camp after getting assurance from an official of the OIC that the tripartite meeting would push through on March 17 and 18.
The tripartite meeting is aimed primarily at assessing the implementation of the peace agreement signed by the MNLF and the government in September 2006. The MNLF has been complaining about the government's failure to fully implement the pact.
Asked what lessons the military learned from the incident, Bacarro said, "It's not the lessons but what we have achieved as a result of this incident."
Bacarro took exception to the use of "released" when referring to Dolorfino and his group leaving the MNLF camp.
"Who is saying that they were released? They were allowed to leave," said Bacarro, who said the word "left" describes the situation better.
Bacarro said Dolorfino himself clarified that they were not held by the rebels or detained.
Asked whether Esperon has issued instructions to officers to be prudent in accepting invitations from MNLF in the future, Bacarro said: "Well, as of now, there is still no statement made by our chief of staff. We are doing these efforts to attain really our objective, which is peace."
On reports that Dolorfino's group paid the MNLF ransom, Bacarro said Dolorfino gave the MNLF P20,000 for the roast calf it served for lunch last Sunday.
When asked if Dolorfino violated any standing military rules for entering the MNLF camp, Bacarro said: "First of all, General Dolorfino went to the camp performing his official function. The Armed Forces of the Philippines gives primacy to peace talks."
Marine spokesman Ariel Caculitan, meanwhile, appealed to the MNLF to ensure that their ranks are not infiltrated by the Abu Sayyaf to prevent clashes similar to the January 18 incident in Patikul that left three Marines and nine MNLF members.
Caculitan said one of the four captured suspects, a certain Warki, has admitted that he is a member of the Abu Sayyaf and that he has applied for membership with the MNLF. Warki remains in the custody of the Marines while the three others have been already released.
At the House of Representatives, Iloilo Representative Rolex Suplico challenged the Arroyo administration to terminate its peace negotiations with the MILF and the MNLF and declare them instead as bandit groups like the Abu Sayaff after the alleged abduction of Dolorfino and his companions and the alleged involvement of suspected armed members of MILF's Special Operations Group in the raid of North Cotabato Provincial Jail in Kidapawan City last Friday where 48 prisoners managed to escape, including suspected terrorists.
Despite the release last Sunday of Delormino's group and statements made by Dolorfino himself, the incident should not be tolerated at all by the government, said Suplico.
The congressman said the incidents "proved one thing - that there is no good reason at all for the government to continue treating the MILF and MNLF like babies."
"These are common crimes and are violations of the Revised Penal Code, the escape of prisoners, extortion, blackmail, kidnapping, etc. The Arroyo administration must use the iron-fist policy in dealing with common criminals such as those involved in these twin incidents," he said. (VR/DBP/Sunnex)
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