The crowds at dawn Masses have dwindled, according to news reports, and many Christmas parties have been canceled in Iligan City, where bomb attacks on two shopping areas last Thursday killed three people and wounded 47 others. A security cordon has been thrown around St. Michael’s Cathedral and other Christian places of worship in the city.
Last Friday an improvised explosive device concealed in a hollowed-out papaya was found in a bakeshop on the same street where the two bombs fashioned out of mortar had been set off. Yesterday a similar device, again concealed in a papaya, was found in a garbage dump, further heightening security concerns.
The Philippine National Police has linked Moro Islamic Liberation Front commanders Ameril Umbra Kato, Aleem Sulayman Pangalian and Abdulrahman Macapaar, alias Bravo, to the bomb attacks. Kato and Bravo led the pillage of several villages in three provinces in Mindanao a few months ago, burning down houses, driving away villagers and stealing carabaos. The raids were staged after the government, complying with a Supreme Court order, aborted the signing of the controversial memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain with the MILF in Malaysia.
Though the raids left over 40 people dead in one province alone, the MILF leadership refused to hand over Kato and Bravo as demanded by the government. Instead the separatist leaders, who have been discussing peace on and off with the government, promised to subject the commanders to MILF discipline. The terrorist attacks in Iligan indicate that this has not happened. The attacks also reinforce perceptions that MILF leaders have no control over their militants.
These developments emphasize the wisdom of bringing the peace initiative to the grassroots, and focusing on so-called DDR: disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation. It is futile to discuss peace with rebel leaders who cannot keep their thugs from sowing terror particularly during the Christmas season.