29 MILF attacks in Central Mindanao since government truce

COTABATO CITY — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels have launched 29 clandestine attacks on military positions in Central Mindanao since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a unilateral truce last month.

Army and Marine units in the region remain in defensive posture in keeping with the govern-ment’s efforts to revive the stalled peace negotiations.

Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said their men can initiate only "calibrated responses" to rebel attacks, just enough to prevent them from closing in and terrorizing remote villages.

"Our soldiers in the field are under strict guidance not to open fire unless fired upon and to engage the enemies only if their lives and the safety of civilians are at risk," Ando said.

Since last month, police and military records show that 15 people, including a Marine, have been killed while five others have been wounded in rebel attacks in the 6th ID’s area of coverage.

"These exclude the atrocities perpetrated by the rebels in areas under the jurisdiction of the 4th Infantry Division in Lanao del Sur and nearby provinces," Ando said.

At least four harassment incidents by the MILF have been reported in the 6th ID’s jurisdiction since the President announced here last Wednesday that the MILF leadership had written the government and signified their intention to resume peace talks.

The letter, dated March 13 and signed on behalf of MILF chieftain Salamat Hashim by the front’s legal counsel, Lanang Ali, was channeled through Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, who chairs the government peace panel.

For every MILF attack, the 6th ID immediately embarks on a medical and dental mission in far-flung communities to show that the government is sincere in its peace venture.

"In so doing, we can project to our brothers in the MILF that the military, at all cost, will really adhere to the unilateral truce," said Brig. Gen. Roy Kyamko, the 6th ID’s commanding general.