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Thursday, December 29, 2005
Caucus to Southcom: Substantiate accusations v. Moro rebels
By Cheng Ordoņez
A MINDANAO peoples' organization has challenged the Southern Command to substantiate allegations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and submit complaints to the Joint Ceasefire Committee.
Bantay Ceasefire challenged Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, Southern Command chief to file the necessary complaints to the Joint Ceasefire Committee instead of airing them to the media.
In a statement furnished Sun.Star the Bantay Ceasefire group said the complaints by the Southern Command over alleged recruitment and training of over 4,000 members by the MILF are "accusations that need to be threshed out, validated and verified with due regard of the proper ceasefire mechanisms and channels."
"If, indeed, the Southern Command has solid evidence over these alleged repeated reports of recruitment, it should elevate this matter to the Joint Ceasefire Committee and let the ceasefire mechanisms work to address the problem as had been successfully done in the past. The International Monitoring Team led by Malaysia is also here in Mindanao to help us verify the reports," the group stressed.
The same group said to do otherwise will not only be counterproductive but could potentially scuttle the peace talks.
"Instead of talking to media to expose all these accusations, General Adan is duty bound under President Arroyo's administrative guidelines to take into paramount consideration the strategic value of the peace talks over any tactical moves by the military," it stressed.
Bantay Ceasefire, together with the various peace networks, said it is willing to validate and verify these complaints. There are procedures and mechanisms that are already in place precisely to respond to this type of problem in the ceasefire agreement itself.
As an independent grassroots ceasefire mechanism, the Bantay Ceasefire highly commended the joint efforts of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ceasefire committee in ensuring the strictest implementation of the ceasefire agreement in the conflict affected areas in Mindanao.
"For the past two years now since the re-declaration of the ceasefire in July 2003, the evacuees themselves could attest to having experienced relative peace in their own communities while formal peace talks on the ancestral domain agenda are also gaining breakthrough and consensus-building.
The respect given to the ceasefire clearly shows the sincerity and political will of both government and the MILF with the support of Malaysia and the international community to finally bring this negotiation into settlement.
These are victories that we need to reaffirm, giving us reason to be more hopeful on what lies ahead in the coming year," it said.
Bantay Ceasefire strongly also urges local government leaders and legislators to create and provide the much needed support for the peace process in Mindanao.
"Clearly, this is the time for us to take the peace process
seriously and sincerely. We urge the Southern Command to submit this matter to the Joint government and MILF ceasefire committee for verification and resolution. Let us all be vigilant in preventing any move that can only scuttle the peace talks instead of giving it the much needed support and momentum," it added.
(December 29, 2005 issue)
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