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Should the MILF be reclassified as a terrorist group and peace talks with them suspended?

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For sure, some of its members can be reclassified as terrorists, but not the MILF as an organization that seeks only its own identity. - Dave Velasco, Marinduque

They are terrorist-barbarians going on a killing rampage and destroying lives and propperty. They deserve war and not peace talks. – C. Gaspar, Laoag City

It’s immaterial

Reclassifying the MILF as a terrorist group in the league of Al-Qaeda or Abu Sayyaf, to me, is immaterial. But to suspend peace talks with this obstinate band of ideologists is tantamount to hoisting a white flag of surrender. On the contrary, no stone should be left unturned; all workable and feasible means should be exhausted with the end of achieving lasting peace in Mindanao, the so-called “Promised Land,” in mind. – Manny Cordeta, Marikina City

Reclassification is not important; the fact is tjat the MILF is a terrorist group. What peace talks? There is no such thing. This inept government must wage an all-out war on this group. – Tony Gomez, Parañaque City

There’s no use reclassifying or pursuing peace with MILF leaders and their backers because they don’t respect our Constitution. – Delfin Todcor, Mt. Province

It’s useless classifying them as a terrorist group because they have foreign backers and they won’t surrender anyway. – Romeo Caubat, Masbate

Peace talks or no peace talks, whatever name you give the MILF, they won’t stop until they get Mindanao. Let the government negotiating panel solve that. - C.K. Yeo, Iloilo City

Reclassification and peace talks wouldn’t change anything right now. Preventing more senseless deaths of civilians should be our focus. - Jun Cajucom, Tacloban City

There is no need to reclassify the MILF as it was a terrorist group to begin with. The MOA-AD is a mistake, and it allows the MILF to secede from the Republic. – Vic Alim, Caloocan City

Rebels without a cause

No need to call them that; they brought it upon themselves. Forget the peace talks, MOA and BJE. Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are one. The Philippines must be protected from being mutilated. Unlike the guerrillas of WW II, the guerrillas of today, Filipinos as they are, pilfer and kill their own brothers. Whoever they are, I call them rebels without a cause. - Cris Rivera, Rizal

The MILF always gives refuge to the Abu Sayyaf when they are under hot pursuit by the AFP-PNP. Both the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf are terrorists masquerading as rebels. - Edwin Castillo, Batangas

Public trust and sympathy for the MILF’s cause has evaporated. Murad is a copycat Arafat, mouthing peace but abetting, if not instigating, terrorism to attain their ends. – Norberto Robles, Taguig

Terrorism as we know it

Dapat lang. The MILF terrorizes innocent civilians. They are ruthless, merciless and beast-like. Walang respeto sa karapatang mabuhay ng ibang tao. – Erwin Espinosa, Pangasinan

It’s better to classify the entire MILF as terrorists. Why? We don’t even know who’s saying what; all seem like meek lambs in front of the camera, while their acts are works of the devil. These men show no mercy, so give them what they want. Lipulin, ubusin.There’s no point in talking with these people. – Rose Leobrera, Manila

Calling them terrorists is too mild for these marauding MILF bandits. These beasts terrorize hapless people. It’s a waste of time and effort for the government to try to civilize them. – Fortunato Aguirre, Bulacan

Yes, the MILF’s killing and robbing of innocent civilians and the burning of their houses are acts of terrorism and violence. These are Satanic acts. – June Deoferio, Cavite

The MILF has repeatedly perpetrated crimes of murder, arson, pillage. Reclassifying them as terrorists is commensurate to their terrorist acts. – Benjamin Nillo, Las Piñas City

The MILF must be reclassified as a terrorist group because of the untold atrocities they have committed and continue to commit against their innocent victims. – Joe Edrosolan, Caloocan City

The MILF is a terrorist group. They have always killed and murdered innocent civilians. They also destroy property. There will only be peace once MILF members are all dead. – Robert Peralejo, General Santos City

Of course, terrorists are what they are. Their leaders are saying one thing while their thugs are committing terrorist acts. – Wenceslao Calma, Bataan

Peace negotiations with the MILF is baloney. They should be classified as terrorists with the savage pillaging and killings that they have done. – Rey Ibalan, Antipolo City

Innocent Muslims and Christians have been victims of the rampage of those who call themselves MILF when in fact they’ve always been terrorists! – L.C. Fiel, Quezon City

Why don’t we just declare the MILF as our enemy, period? – Felix Ramento, Manila

Elusive peace

Muslims exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. If their population is under two per cent, they are regarded as a peace-loving minority. When they reach five percent, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups. They will push for the introduction of “halal” food preparation and increase pressure on supermarkets to feature halal on their shelves along with threats for failure to comply. At 10 per cent, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. At 20 per cent, we can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings and the burning of Christian churches. At 40 per cent, widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks and militia warfare are experienced. At 60 per cent, we experience unfettered persecution of non-believers, sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), using Sharia Law as a weapon. At 80 per cent, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad. At 100 percent, it will usher in the peace of “Dar-es-Salaam” the Islamic House of Peace. Here, there’s supposed to be peace because everybody is a Muslim. But, peace is never achieved because radical Muslims will intimidate, spew hatred and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims for a variety of reasons. – Joe Nacilla, Las Piñas City

Peace talks should be suspended

Enough of too much talk. The government should just cancel talks with the MILF, declare it a terrorist group, and conduct a full military operation. – Joel Caluag, Bulacan

Looking at it from any angle, they are a terrorist group and peace talks should be suspended. Perpetrators of such carnage must be arrested, prosecuted and jailed. – Col. Ben Paguirigan Jr., Ret., Zamboanga City

What they’re doing is terrorism, so why shouldn’t they be called terrorists? Peace talks with them should be suspended. Lydia Reyes, Bataan

The recent act of treachery committed by the MILF showed their being a true-blooded terrorist group. Cancel the peace talks. It’s useless. - Armando Tavera, Las Piñas City

No, they should not be classified as such, but the peace talks should be suspended until after the renegade MILF rebels are captured or annihilated. - Leandro Tolentino, Batangas City

If you look for a definition of terrorism, the MILF is overqualified. Peace talks should be suspended. – Gerry del Cano, Muntinlupa City

Negotiation without sincerity

Yes, these acts of MILF guerrillas are a clear manifestation of their insincerity to the peace process. The AFP should not allow atrocities perpetrated by the MILF against the Filipino people. – Johann Lucas, Quezon City

Yes, we must suspend the peace talks because the MILF is not really sincere. They are making a lot of demands and they are using the peace talks as their security blanket while they attack the military and civilians. They are only good at making excuses. - James Gaw, Quezon City

The MILF is a terrorist group. While demanding for ancestral domain, they loot and burn houses and kill innocent civilians. Peace talks with these armed people are just a waste of time. Enough is enough; the government must declare an all-out war against these terrorists. - E. Linsangan, Isabela

The MILF has become an unwieldy group of terrorists with their Mindanao rampage, killing not only military men but also peaceful, innocent villagers. It is preposterous to grant them their demand for ancestral domain. They will just wipe out legitimate non-Moslem landowners to complete their territorial claim and will proceed to meet their ultimate objective to secede from the Republic. Any negotiation with them should now be terminated as they have proven to be insincere and have shown the ugly face of treachery. – I.Q. Calata, Parañaque City

Yes, peace talks are only for peace-loving people. Attaining peace with the MILF is a remote possibility. – Ricardo Tolentino, Laoag City

Let’s not give up on peace talks

The MILF is indeed a terrorist group disillusioned by their acts that peace can be achieved through the use of force. We should not give up on peace talks. – Eric Gopilan, Manila

Reclassifying MILF members as terrorists and suspending peace talks are tantamount to declaring a full-scale war against the MILF. There will be hell to pay, more Commander Katos and Umbras will wreak havoc on Christian towns and barangays. The next best thing to do is to re-negotiate peace talks, but we should first ask the MILF to agree on including other concerned sectors and to abide by the Constitution. And don’t forget to fire the Malaysian referees. - Robert Young Jr., San Juan

The MILF is not a group of ragtag bandits like the Abu Sayyaf. It was formed in the light of dissatisfaction on how Misuari helmed the MNLF years before. Its creation and existence is for what they believe is a noble cause, which is to get parity attention for their economic and social conditions. However, what Macaspar, et al. did to terrify GMA for her about-face on their covert MOA – going amok like mad dogs and sowing terror among civilians – is condemnable. Despite this, the peace talks with the MILF leadership should resume provided the government negotiates on a position of strength, guided by the benefits of brotherly love, relief, truth. It shouldn’t sell our country’s soul just to keep itself in power. – Elpidio Que, Vigan

Why even deal with them?

I really don’t understand why we are dealing with the MILF when, in Mindanao, there are legitimate elected officials which the government must assist. The MILF’s long struggle of violence and ruthlessness is not acceptable in the civil society. The people of Mindanao deserve a break from their criminal acts. - Alfredo Carballo Jr., Negros Occidental

The MILF should not only be reclassified as terrorists, they should also be classified as savages. Why should we continue holding peace talks with people who have forked tongues? – Edgar Artates, Parañaque City

MILF was, is and forever will be a band of terrorists, and just like a cancerous tissue, they should be extricated now before they metastasize and put the patient in danger. – Manuel Abejero, Pangasinan

Yes, ours is a civilized society and the MILF is a cabal of military adventurists whose passion for independence is as distorted as the other military adventurists. – Joe Edrosolan, Caloocan City

We should not negotiate with this group which does not recognize the Supreme Court. - Ric Vergara, Calamba

The peace talks must be fully abrogated. The government erred in negotiating with a terrorist group, which doesn’t represent our peace-loving Muslim population. - C.B. Fundales, Bulacan

The MILF is truly a terrorist group and we should not have started any peace talks with them. Paunlarin na lang po ang Mindanao gaya ng pagpaunlad sa Metro Manila. – Richard Decena, Quezon City

They were formed as a terrorist group to begin with. They were already using violent action to achieve what they believed. Peace talks? MNLF wants a portion of Mindanao under ARMM; the MILF wanted more, and a splinter group could be asking for the whole Mindanao or, worse, the whole archipelago. – Rolando de Leon, Metro Manila

The spate of human rights violations committed by the alleged breakaway groups must be settled first by the MILF leadership; otherwise, they will remain as a terrorist group not worth dealing with. - Germi Sison, Manila

We must give them war

The MILF is nothing but a loose alliance of ragtag bandit groups pretending to be a legitimate organization. Its central leadership is composed of feeble old men like Murad and Kabalu who have no control over their so-called “field commanders”. It should therefore be classified as a terrorist group and exterminated down to the last man like pesky termites. – Don Hernandez, Las Piñas City

The MILF is a bunch of outlaws, so no to peace talks since those guys are doble kara. Give them what they want: war. – C.B. Manalastas, Manila

Yes, it’s impossible to reach an accord of peace between two parties with different agenda. They want war, let’s annihilate them with war. – Ruel Bautista, Laguna

The government should not talk peace with terrorists and traitors. The AFP must pulverize the MILF once and for all. – Leonard Villa, Batac City

The MILF is a bandit/robber/kidnapper/terrorist group masquerading as a principled group, thanks to personalities that accorded them with such recognition kaya yumabang. They are a group of sneaks who will cower in the face of a determined foe. Let us wipe them out. We will not be violating any human rights for they have committed very inhuman acts. – Rey Onate, Palayan City

Yes, the government should deal with them in the only language they can understand. Maybe the government can recruit all the thugs nationwide as “mercenaries” to annihilate them. – Pedro Alagano Sr., Vigan City

Let’s look at the actions of the MILF for the past couple of weeks: They held hostages, burned houses, and killed people. Are these  terror acts? Most definitely, they’re a menace to society. When they started opposing the Constitution, they already forfeited their rights. They no longer have the right to either live or continue living. If I were the President, I would have bombarded them all with bombs. Secessionist groups won’t have any space in my country. I won’t tolerate them. – Alvin Lopez, Manila

A big yes, killing and plundering civilians are definitely terrorist acts! Filing cases in court is stupid. Hunt them down! - William Bacani, Bulacan

The MILF is, was, and always be a terrorist group. Peace talks? They do not deserve an iota of attention from PGMA or anyone else, except for a gunner who has these SOBs sighted between the crosshairs of his M60. An all-out war is the only solution; wipe them out. – Gerii Calupitan, Muntinlupa City

Yes, absolutely. The MILF is a terrorist group, plain and simple. Wipe them out! - Dino Monzon, Caloocan City

Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war. To rogue MILF elements, yes. – Gil Planas, Davao City

In war, there are no victors

The trouble brewing in Moro land is very alarming. We want peace but we can’t have it through war. War gives us nothing good and nobody wins in the end. – Samer Balindong, Quezon City

The government must only do its job

Let’s not waste our time on semantics and talking to people who are asking for the moon and the stars. The government has never learned; it wasted so much time and efforts talking peace with the NDF who want to change our system to communism. Now, talking with the MILF who wants a Muslim state carved out from our Republic, all the government has to do is enforce our laws, underscoring illegal possession of firearms. All citizens have the same rights and protection under our laws. – Rodolfo Capili, Caloocan City

I lived most of my life in Zamboanga City, and this chaos has to stop. The government needs to manage this problem by setting aside political and personal gain and focusing on the betterment of the Filipino people. - Pamelanie Radaza, Indiana

What’s taking us so long?

Do we have to think twice before we take drastic action? The MILF are terrorists as they kill innocent and hapless people without mercy. Negotiations between the MILF and the government have failed, or is it the government’s strategy to pave the way for federalism? Let’s not give up on Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan. – Ella Arenas, Pangasinan

How many more lives and property do we need to sacrifice before the MILF is tagged as a terrorist group? The government should not deal with bandits. - Danny de Leon, Al-Khafji, Saudi Arabia

Tagged as rebels and separatists, the MILF should have been classified as a terrorist organization a long time ago. MVS was already espousing it while he was still alive. – Jim Veneracion, Naga City

Views expressed in this section do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The STAR. The STAR does not knowingly publish false information and may not be held liable for the views of readers exercising their right to free expression. The publication also reserves the right to edit contributions to this section as it sees fit.

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