BIFF attacks won’t discourage gov’t from pursuing peace

MANILA, Philippines - The government will not be discouraged from pursuing peace in Mindanao amid the attacks launched by the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in North Cotabato last week, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said yesterday.

“The BIFF attacks show a total disregard for human life and a willful desire to block the progress toward achieving a peaceful resolution of the armed conflict in Mindanao,” Ferrer said.

Around 200 Muslim rebels opposed to peace talks with the government stormed five villages and engaged government troops in firefights, prompting thousands of residents to flee their homes.

The BIFF bandits killed four soldiers, held hostage more than 20 civilians, 13 of them public school teachers, and used them as human shields. 

They also attacked a plantation in the town of Tulunan.

On Sept. 26, unidentified men bombed the tower of the National Grid Corp. in Kabacan, North Cotabato, triggering power shutdowns in parts of central Mindanao.

“These acts show that the BIFF and their cohorts are bent on disrupting the peaceful option, and have no qualms to use violence against civilians in order to achieve their political objectives,” Ferrer said.

Government negotiator and presidential adviser on Muslim Concerns Yasmin Busran-Lao said groups resorting to violence would be isolated in the peace process.

Lao stressed that while the negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front aims to strengthen the partnership with the MILF as a peace partner in building autonomous governance in the Bangsamoro region, it is open to all who wish to participate in non-violent political change.

“The peace agreement will allow for a fresh start of governance institutions in the Bangsamoro. There will be space for all those who wish to participate based on fair rules. We are optimistic that the Bangsamoro will grab this opportunity and will transcend personal, tribal, or organizational interests to bring about good governance for our people,” Lao added.

Asked about the exclusion of the Moro National Liberation Front from the peace process, Secretary Mehol Sadain, head of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, said that similar tracks are being pursued with the different MNLF groups and personalities who would commit to renounce violence.

“The unity of the MNLF and the MILF cannot be imposed by the government. They need to build the bridges among themselves,” Sadain said.

“We will support such initiatives, but we cannot force it upon them,” he added.

2 BIFF leaders charged

Meanwhile, police have filed criminal charges against two BIFF commanders who led last week’s violent forays in five villages in Midsayap town.

Senior Superintendent Danny Peralta, North Cotabato provincial police director, said Commanders “DM” and Abbas Kudanding and 30 other bandits were charged with multiple murder, frustrated murder, and attempted murder with the provincial prosecutor’s office last Wednesday.

Peralta said villagers affected by the hostilities identified them as the leaders of some 200 bandits that attacked their villages.

Commander DM and Kudanding are known henchmen of BIFF founder Ameril Umbra Kato, former chief of the 105th Base Command of the MILF. – With John Unson