Military forces in South on high alert

MANILA, Philippines – Military forces in Mindanao have been placed on high alert amid intelligence reports that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is plotting a big offensive against government and civilian targets in the region.

Task Force Tabak commander Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido said that the MILF reportedly plans to attack Army and police outposts in the Lanao provinces and elsewhere in Mindanao.

“But as to the actual movement of their forces, so far, we have monitored none,” Atendido said, referring to the fighters of the MILF’s 102nd Base Commander Abdul Rakman Macapaar alias “Commander Bravo.”

The rebels are based at Camp Bilal in the boundary of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.

Atentido said there were also reports that Bravo and MILF’s chief for military affairs Alim Abdul Aziz Mimbantas at Camp Bushra in Butig, Lanao del Sur, were reportedly planning to lead the offensive.

Reports said that recently, on behalf of the MILF’s Central Committee and as chief of military affairs, Mimbantas called on every mujahedin to be ready for what he claimed was the government’s move “to subvert the struggle of the Moro people for their right to freedom and self-determination under the guise of talking peace.”

Mimbantas also ordered the Bangsa Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) not to participate in or acknowledge the forthcoming Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections.

The military said “apparently out of this directive, MILF forces carried a series of attacks against Army positions in Aleosan and Marbel, all in North Cotabato last week.”

The secessionist group was tagged by the military as the brains behind the series of bombings and the toppling of power lines in Mindanao.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said that if the MILF leadership are really sincere in resolving the decades-old conflict in Mindanao via negotiated settlement, they should take firm control of their men.

AFP chief Gen. Alexander Yano directed ground commanders to take action to protect themselves against attacks.

He maintained that while the military continues to observe the primacy of the peace talks, it is continuously planning and preparing for any eventuality.

Maj. Gen. Nemehias Pajarito, commanding general of the Army’s 1st Tabak Division based at Pagadian City, in an earlier interview also declared the military is prepared to meet the MILF head-on in case the ceasefire breaks down.

“Technically we are still at war. The fighting only stops because of the ceasefire,” Pajarito said.

Prior to his retirement early this year, former AFP chief retired Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. ordered the pullout of two Army brigades from Sulu and Basilan.

The troops were subsequently transferred to Lanao provinces and Maguindanao, in response to the massing of MILF forces in the two areas recently.