MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. on Monday said the government will exert all efforts to ensure justice will be served for the seven Moro Islamic Liberation Front members killed by an ISIS-linked local terror group.
ISIS-linked group
Dawlah
Islamiyah attacked an MILF camp near Shariff Saydona in Maguindanao last Friday, killing the seven former rebels. The Turayfe-Dawlah faction is a faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which is opposed to the peace deal between the government and the MILF.
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As the Philippine government conveyed its condolences to the families of the slain MILF members, Galvez also said the government will assist the
kin of the slain former rebels in every way possible.
"We will exert all efforts to make sure that justice will
be served to the perpetrators of this dastardly act," Galvez said in a statement.
The Cabinet member also pointed out that the government recognizes the gallantry of the slain MILF combatants as they fought against the local terror group.
"For us, they are heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice so that their people can live in peace," the presidential adviser said.
Galvez called the attack an atrocity that "
demonstrates the brutality of these terror groups, and violent methods they will
utilize to sow fear, anger and discord among the populace."
"Their twisted ideology does not recognize ethnicity nor religion. They have no place in a humane, peaceful society," he added.
The MILF, once the country's largest guerilla group, began decommissioning weapons last month as part of a 2014 peace agreement.
In a decommissioning ceremony held in Sultan Kudarat last month, about 12,000 fighters of the MILF or 30% of the 40,000 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces laid down their weapons.
The decommissioned fighters received P100,000 in cash while
their families were given P500,000 to P1 million in housing, scholarships, health care and other aid. — Patricia Lourdes Viray