US has $115-M aid plan for MILF areas

President Arroyo bared yesterday a $115-million "mini Marshall plan" offered by the United States for the development of conflict areas in Mindanao once the government enters into a final peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

With this amount of developmental assistance, Mrs. Arroyo called on MILF chairman Hashim Salamat "to sign the peace agreement" being presented by the government peace panel.

"As far as I know, there is a component in the $115 million ‘mini-Marshall’ plan which we may need for the development of the former MILF conflict areas," Mrs. Arroyo said in an interview over Radio Mindanao Network.

Mrs. Arroyo made the offer even as MILF guerrillas sustained their offensives killing six people, including an entire family and the son of a mayor in separate attacks.

About 30 MILF guerrillas broke into the home of a family in Lambayong town in Sultan Kudarat before dawn yesterday and killed the father, mother and two children, military spokesman Maj. Onting Alon said.

The guerrillas then took the family’s livestock and fled, Alon said.

In another incident, suspected MILF rebels shot dead the son of a mayor in Paglat town and his cousin while they were riding a motorcycle on Friday, Army 6th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga said.

However, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied his group was behind the attacks, saying banditry and political rivalries might have been at work.

Kabalu maintained the MILF attacks only government targets, not civilians.

Officials, however, blamed the MILF for a rash of supposed retaliatory attacks on civilians in recent weeks after the military attacked the main MILF stronghold in Pikit, North Cotabato last month and killed almost 200 rebels.

The attacks came even as government and MILF panels were holding exploratory talks in Malaysia aimed at restarting peace negotiations.

The government panel, headed by Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, met with Mrs. Arroyo yesterday after wrapping up their exploratory talks with MILF representatives in Kuala Lumpur.

Mrs. Arroyo, however, explained she would make a formal announcement today the results of the exploratory talks.

Retaliatory attacks continue

Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said 20 MILF guerrillas stormed Barangay Midtapok in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat.

"The civilians reported to the police and military in the area that the rebels fired their guns indiscriminately toward civilian positions and killed four residents while wounding two others," Lucero said.

Lucero said the rebels toppled three electrical posts, plunging the village into total darkness before attacking.

Responding militiamen and civilian volunteers managed to drive away the rebels after a 20-minute firefight.

Col. Agustin Dema-ala, commander of the Army’s 301 Brigade, which has jurisdiction over the town, said some 50 MILF guerrillas surrounded the village and opened fire with B-40 anti-tank rockets.

MILF guerrillas also bombed a bridge and struck another power transmission pylon while attempting to burn down a hotel in separate attacks in Central Mindanao.

The military said four home-made explosives, fashioned from anti-tank B-40 rockets, were used in the bombing of the bridge connecting two villages in Barangay Lumayong in Carmen, North Cotabato on Friday.

Officials said the simultaneous explosions, however, caused negligible damage.

The bombing came less than a week after Muslim and Christian farmers in surrounding areas reportedly refused to shell out "protection money" to emissaries sent by MILF Commander Pakil Ayunan.

Police said they are also looking into the possibility that the same group of rebels was behind the toppling down of a steel transmission tower of the National Power Corporation (Napocor) in nearby Barangay Malabuaya in Kabacan, North Cotabato.

Additional troops were deployed to secure communities against possible reprisals by the rebels, officials said.

The spate of bomb attacks in North Cotabato was followed by an attempt by a lone suspect to burn Galaxy Pub House, a hotel located near the Cotabato City hall.

Another customer discovered the explosive device upon checking in and alerted the police, officials said.

Suspected MILF rebels also staged another highway robbery divesting some 50 bus passengers of their money and belongings along the Davao-Tacurong route in Maguindanao.

Officials said three of the rebels, pretending to be passengers, initially boarded the Grand Transport in North Cotabato then declared a holdup upon reaching a secluded portion of the road.

One of the robbers even apologized justifying their action as necessary to sustain their fight for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao.

Southcom chief Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya said the military will utilize its full might if the MILF continues to attack government troops and civilians.

He said the MILF attacks on power transmission lines and the killing of civilians will create more economic problems and dislocation.

Abaya also called on the MILF to release the seven captives, six militiamen and one soldier from the 58th Infantry Battalion, "warm and alive."

Abaya made the call even as reports indicated representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have intervened for the release of the captives snatched in Balo-i town early this month. – with Roel Pareño, John Unson, Lino de la Cruz, AFP