What really scares the MILF . . .

The MILF are not afraid of guns, bullets or bombs. They are not afraid of the Army, the Marines, or the Police. They are certainly not afraid of a woman even if she is Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

What the MILF leadership is really afraid of is to be OFFICIALLY branded as TERRORISTS.

Judging from their unusual willingness to give an interview to Korina Sanchez right in their hideout and their unusual effort at disclaiming the label of being TERRORISTS, the MILF exposed their greatest fear: to be classified as TERRORISTS on an International level. 

While most kids may say: “sticks and stones may break my bones but your words can never harm me”, words such as “TERRORISTS” can cause serious damage to the operations and entity of the MILF.

Let us not forget that the MILF is in fact an internationally funded secessionist group that has depended heavily on petro dollars and Islamic sympathy from members of the Organization of Islamic Conference. If anybody wonders how they can be so well armed and can afford to use the banned land mines, all you have to do is trace their bank accounts and money transfers. You cannot maintain an army simply on vegetables and idealism. Their so-called armed forces are paid either by international contributions or collections.

If our government or President Arroyo unequivocally declares them as TERRORISTS, all financial dealings and contributions to the MILF can be investigated and be held in check or frozen. All contributors will then hesitate to continue sending money since they too would be placed under surveillance and can be subjected to seizures, etc.

Even the National Democratic Front and Joma Sison are very sensitive about the label since this could freeze up all their assets and contributions particularly in Europe.

The official declaration that “the MILF is a TERRORIST organization” would do more damage to the group than any military offensive and would minimize the loss of human lives particularly members of our Armed Forces.

At this moment, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has the rare and unique opportunity of punishing the MILF without loss of life or firing a single shot. She can back out of the MOA with cause and she can obliterate any claim of legitimacy of the MILF on the basis of their TERRORIST acts.

Unlike past Presidents who fought the MILF with fire-power and dragged themselves into an “ugly war”, President Arroyo can call on the OIC to pass judgment on their adopted spiritual sibling and discipline them.

President Arroyo can now collect on promises made by the US to help fight terrorism by placing locks on funding sources and support given to the MILF.   

The government simply needs to document and present the cold blooded slaughter of civilians including a two-year old girl, the more than 70 houses burned, the beating and point blank murder of Lt. Col. Angel Benitez and the unprovoked ambush of government forces all of which took place during a “ceasefire”. Add to this, recently gathered reports that the houses and civilians were tagged and targeted in advance, as part of the attacks.

In their documentation the government can even invite independent journalists from the Middle East to document how the MILF forces attacked both Christian and Muslim communities and how these attacks were also designed to create anger between the previously co-existing neighbors.

The President will have more than what is needed to establish the deceit and barbarity of the MILF. She simply has to make the declaration and send the same message to the OIC and the United Nations.

In their own words the MILF have said that their forces killed, burned and pillaged as a form of emotional outburst because they did not get what they expected from the MOA. Yet in the same breathe they declared that as far as they are concerned the MOA is as good as signed because the copies have been initialed by members of the GRP-MILF panel. They clearly demonstrated they have the will and the ability to restrain or order their troops to “stand-down” but only did so after three separate attacks occurred all in the same period. By their words and by their actions, they must be held accountable.

Even the United States of America would be hard pressed to continue giving support for a Juridical entity that will be operated by the same kind of bandits they are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Whatever plans or needs the US may have, it would be foolish to establish a group that could just as easily start a shooting war with the Vietnamese or the Chinese once they claim the Spratly Islands as “Ancestral domain”.

The announcement from Malacañang that the signing of the MOA with the MILF has been postponed is not enough. Even an announcement that the MOA will be scrapped is no longer sufficient considering the slaughter that has taken place. The MILF has no value for life, limbs, or human rights. They have sowed terror and must therefore be given the title they deserve.

What makes this option even more desirable than anything else on the table is that it is in line with the non-violent perspective. Rather than shoot it out, the government can expose them for what they really are to the Organization of Islamic Conference. By taking away their funding we take away their instruments of terrorism. Let them deal with their own kind when they start looking for someone to blame.

Every true leader seeks the way of peace, but that road has been made narrow by the treachery and barbarity of the MILF. Still the President can strike the greater, stronger blow by exposing the MILF for what they are: TERRORISTS.