EDITORIAL - A warning from the MILF

The warning was bizarre. Officials of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said their members would fire on American soldiers who wander into MILF territories in the course of the joint operations between Philippine and US troops against the Abu Sayyaf. The military exercise called Balikatan 2002, which is awaiting the arrival of the bulk of participating US troops, will move from Zamboanga City to Basilan in a week or two.

Even more bizarre, however, was the government’s response. The government panel negotiating peace with the MILF said the separatist rebels would be asked to mark their territories and adopt safety measures "so they don’t get run over" during the war games, the government’s chief peace negotiator said.

Since when did the MILF operate in Basilan? The group, whose members morph from bandits to rebels with a cause as the need suits them, broke away from the Moro National Liberation Front and set up a base in an area straddling the borders of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and North Cotabato. Even the group believed to be the MILF’s fund-raising arm, the Pentagon kidnapping gang, operates in the Cotabato provinces.

An even more important question is whether the MILF still controls any territory. Two years ago all the major MILF camps were overrun, with the group’s chairman even losing his home at the biggest base, Camp Abubakar. The defeat made some quarters question the wisdom of pursuing peace talks with the MILF.

The only way MILF members can lay claim to any territory, particularly at the sites of the joint military exercises in Basilan and Zamboanga City, is if they stake a new claim and manage to defend it. Perhaps they’re planning to join up with Abu Sayyaf terrorists, who do control territory in the hinterlands of Basilan. Rebel groups in Mindanao turn to each other for help in times of need, and it won’t be surprising if the MILF comes to the aid of the Abu Sayyaf in fighting the combined forces of the Philippines and the United States.

If the MILF is sincere in its peace efforts, it should get out of the way of anyone trying to neutralize the Abu Sayyaf. But from the start the MILF’s sincerity in pursuing peace has been dubious. From the start it has used the peace process to consolidate its forces and gather strength. This is not the first administration the MILF has jerked around.