Erap: Government weak vs MILF

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  – Former President Joseph Estrada said government is being weak in dealing with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front which resulted to more security problems.

“Government should negotiate in position of strength. But right now, government is being weak. That is why so many lives are sacrificed and continued to be sacrificed with kidnappings, terrorism and massacre talking place,” he said.

Estrada said that government’s policies in dealing with the said armed groups, like the MILF, have turned off investors and have become a big shame in the international community.

The former president said he is still bent on an all-out war against terrorists and rebel groups in Mindanao, particularly against the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf extremist groups.

“I wouldn’t changed a thing. I would still do the same thing all over again. No regrets about having dealt with the problem that way,” Estrada told The STAR in a recent interview here at the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao.

And if elected again as president, Estrada said, he is determined to crush the rebels in the south with an iron fist.

Estrada launched an all-out offensive against the separatist rebels which led to the downfall of the once impregnable Camp Abubakar, the MILF’s main camp in Central Mindanao.

Estrada is best remembered eating lechon (roasted pig) in a boodle fight with soldiers when government troops finally captured Camp Abubakar in July 2000.

He said that in less than four months he was able to dismantle 46 camps of the MILF.

“In less than four months I wiped out 46 camps of the MILF and yet they were returned to the MILF when I was forced out of office,” Estrada furthered said.

Meanwhile, Senator Richard Gordon lambasted Estrada’s all-out war policy saying that it cost government more than P6 billion, including the expenditures for the rehabilitation of the internally displaced people or evacuees.

Gordon told the participants of the recent 3rd National Ulama Summit also held at the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao that the Estrada solution to the Mindanao problem was too costly in which the money could have been put into good use such as in education and health services.

“He (Gordon) does not know what he is talking about. The cost never reached P6 billion. That is too much. I know it was only between P200 million and P400 million including expenditures for the military operation and the rehabilitation of those who have been affected by the conflict,” Estrada said.

“Everything is accounted for. Every centavo is accounted for. I can show the records,” Estrada said.