Cooperate, or stand aside. Nothing could be clearer. This is the advice of the palace to the MILF, who have refused to surrender Dan Asnawi, a fugitive MILF commander who is believed to be responsible for the beheading of ten Philippine Marines last 2007, in the very same town nineteen Army Special Forces were ambushed and killed, some once again having their bodies defiled. The MILF says it requires evidence against Asnawi. See, here where the whole thing is just so wrong.
Do we even need the permission of the MILF to go after a known fugitive/criminal? The MILF demands that Asnawi be subjected to a process separate from the traditional Philippine judicial system. What? What other system is there in place of what the country has now? I never knew of a separate system to exist! The MILF is operating under the delusion that it is already a separate state. That it has its own laws, and that there is no extradition treaty between the Philippines and the MILF for them to surrender a wanted man like Asnawi! In effect, what the MILF is now doing is coddling a fugitive, giving him safe refuge from the authorities. I never did believe for a second that there are separate groups from the MILF. They all belong to one rebel group, with emphasis on the word rebel, under different letters of the alphabet.
This is because the MILF need people like Asnawi to do the things they are not supposed to be doing. Asnawi makes the MILF look good in the eyes of the Philippine government. Asnawi is tasked to do the dirty work, those actions not befitting of an honorable rebellious group, if there ever was such a thing! And do the things Asnawi did, with relish! Not content with beating his enemy, he proceeds to defile the bodies as only an Islamist militant can! It is not enough that his enemy has fallen dead in battle, he must mutilate them to send a message. Aside from these war crimes, he also engages in robbery, kidnapping and other crimes. It is for these reasons that the Army wants to bring him to justice. If only his rebel coddlers and protectors would cough him up.
I find it hard to see the peace process moving forward because of these basic but obvious differences in opinion between the government and the MILF. The MILF has to first realize that it is not a legitimate, recognized body or entity in the Philippines. They are rebels. And unless they are able to claim victory over the whole country and occupy Malacañang, they cannot cite rules known only to them nor dictate what they should be getting, much less refuse to surrender criminals wanted by the government. Whatever courtesies given to them right now are just that. Courtesies. Although that has quickly worn out with the atrocities at Al-Barka. If peace is to be finally attained, the MILF has to know its place. It has to surrender its criminals, and it has to understand that no part of Mindanao is solely theirs.
So cooperate, or step aside. But knowing the MILF’s penchant for violence, I doubt it will be the former.