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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Bishops nix offensive v. Basilan attackers
MANILA -- The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) does not see an all-out-war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as a solution to avenge the killing and mutilation of soldiers who encountered the rebel group’s members in their search for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.
“The CBCP will not go for an all-out-war (with rebels). We have to look for other solutions,” said Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, CBCP spokesman.
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He said the soldiers’ killing and the stalled peace talks with the MILF “are two different things” and should be addressed by the government separately.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, head of the CBCP public affairs office, said instead of an all-out-war against the rebels, the government should find ways to ease the tension in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan where the encounter happened last week.
The MILF earlier admitted being behind the attack on the Marines personnel. They however denied beheading the marines.
At least 10 of the 14 soldiers who were killed were beheaded and mutilated, prompting Malacañang to tell the Armed Forces that retaliation maybe an option.
Quitorio likewise cautioned the government to be careful in imposing measures that will affect peace negotiations with the Moro rebels, adding that an attack on the MILF may endanger years of trying to attain peace in Mindanao.
Malacañang, meanwhile, rejected the call of the MILF for a new and separate international body to investigate the incident in Tipo-Tipo in Basilan, particularly the beheading and mutilation of members some of the Philippine Marines.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said it is a local problem that should be addressed locally particularly through the available ceasefire mechanisms.
Ermita said any involvement of foreign groups should be limited to the Organization of the Islamic Conference-International Monitoring Team (OIC-IMT) headed by Malaysia.
“I don’t think we have to resort to that because that is one way of trying to internationalize the problem and this is a local problem,” he said, confident that it could be resolved locally.
MILF panel chairman Mohaqber Iqbal said they are against the IMT’s involvement since they could not simply enter the Basilan area which is not part of the IMT’s terms of reference. Iqbal said an international human rights body should investigate the mutilation, adding that the MILF would be coming up with the results of its own investigations on the attacks soon.
Presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza admitted that Basilan is not part of the areas covered by IMT and they are still awaiting Malaysia’s go-signal to allow the 60-man body to proceed to the area to investigate.
National Security Adviser and acting Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales flew to Malaysia to formally ask Malaysia, which is the third party facilitator in the peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF, to look into the incident.
Ermita defended the all-out war stance of the military who threatened an all out offensive if the MILF would not surrender its forces that are involve in the attack and beheading.
He said it is a “reaction to a very heinous crime or violent activities undertaken.”
He added that there is no conflict between allowing the ceasefire mechanism like the IMT and the Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities to conduct its investigation on the incident and in going after the perpetrators of the crime. (MSN/JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (July 19, 2007 issue)
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