Tension mounts anew between gov't, MILF forces on Maguindanaohighway

MATANOG, Maguindanao -- Marine troopers were deployed along the Secretary Narciso Ramos Highway here over the weekend, and are now locked in a potential showdown with forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who maintain well-fortified detachments along the route.

But Brig. Gen. Librado Ladia, Marine commander for Southern Philippines, said trouble will not happen unless the government troops are provoked or fired upon.

"Our men were brought here to preserve peace and prevent war," Ladia said. "While we are prepared for war, we detest it as a means of settling disputes."

Ladia said the Marines here will strictly adhere to the ceasefire and will only provide security to local residents and commuters passing through critical stretches of the highway.

The 145-kilometer Secretary Narcisco Ramos Highway connects the cities of Marawi and Cotabato, straddling critical areas that the government has not yet acknowledged as MILF territories.

Only about 400 meters east of this town's poblacion, now secured by the Marines, is an MILF outpost occupied by snipers armed with improvised caliber .50 rifles the rebels manufactured themselves at Camp Abubakar Assidik, the front's main enclave in Maguindanao.

Local residents said that immediately after the Marines arrived here last Saturday, the MILF rebels began massing at the border of Barangay Sapad and the town proper, a demilitarized area separating state and rebel forces.

So close are the positions of the Marines and rebels here that they can see and even taunt each other if they want to.

"Even if that is the situation, we are not worried that the Marines might start the trouble because these combatants have always been restrained in their manners, just like the Army unit they replaced," said Maj. Julieto Ando, civil-military relations chief of the Army's 6th Infantry Division.

This town, previously under the jurisdiction of the Army's 27th Infantry Battalion, is now secured by the 8th Marine Battalion Landing Team, which came from Sulu.

More Marines arrived in Maguindanao's Polloc Port yesterday to augment the Army units securing towns where MILF forces are scattered.

Two more Marine battalions from Jolo, Sulu are arriving today and they will be fielded in more troublesome areas in Maguindanao, Ando said.