Maguindanao folk flee as Moro rebs occupy road

MAMASAPANO, Maguindanao — Hundreds of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels occupied portions of a highway linking this town to the provincial capital Wednesday night, forcing some 3,000 villagers to flee their homes.

Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan said the rebels also surrounded the house of Mamasapano Vice Mayor Datu Nuali and attempted to take over the town hall.

He said the rebels withdrew from the municipal hall after policemen and civilian volunteers fired warning shots and cordoned the area.

"These provocations by these MILF rebels are a big insult to the government. This is a serious violation of the ceasefire," Ampatuan said.

Preceding the rebels’ takeover of Barangay Old Maganoy here was a brief encounter between them and residents of Barangay Kaya-Kaya in nearby Ampatuan town, which left two guerrillas dead.

Sources in the provincial peace and order council said the rebels provoked the hostilities by showing force in a corn farm there, brandishing assault rifles and shoulder-fired B-40 anti-tank rockets.

Nuali and the mayors of seven adjoining towns petitioned the Army’s 6th Infantry Division last Jan. 23 to prevent the armed MILF rebels from roaming around their communities.

The 6th ID has surprisingly been silent on the matter despite the residents’ clamor for immediate action to allow them to return to their villages which the rebels have occupied as if bracing for government counter-offensives.

Senior Superintendent Akmad Mamalinta, director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said two companies of the Regional Mobile Group have been deployed here to thwart any MILF attacks.

Mamalinta said he has informed the government-MILF joint ceasefire committee of the tension now gripping this town.

Ampatuan said the rebel movements here could be related to their opposition to the farm-to-market road being constructed in Datu Unsay town.

Last Saturday, Moro rebels, led by Amiril Kato Ombra, positioned themselves atop two hills overlooking a portion of the road and threatened to torch the road-building equipment if the laborers would not stop the construction.

"The rebels placed on one side of the contested road a big signboard stating there will be war if we force our way and go on with the completion of the project," Ampatuan said in the vernacular.