Subj: Philippines: Christians in dire need of peace and security.

The Philippines government signed a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in March 2001, two months after Mrs Gloria Arroyo came to power. In spite of this, sporadic violence continued as MILF has continued its fight for a separate independent Muslim homeland. On top of this, the New People’s Army (NPA), which is the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has escalated its activities in recent days, possibly in response to the American presence in the Philippines, which is something the CPP is strongly against.

The MILF and the NPA have always known they cannot defeat the Philippine military, so their strategies have been to fight a protracted guerrilla war replete with terrorism. However, in this sort of warfare the primary victims are civilians whose lives are disrupted, and who are displaced, or killed in crossfire and terrorist activities. The civilians most at risk are those the insurgents consider to be acceptable collateral damage, those the insurgents will happily use as bargaining chips, those considered expendable – the Christians.

There is both negative and cautiously positive news regarding the future. The NPA has suggested that it might join forces with the MILF in order to form a united front against the Philippine government. However, the recent “exploratory talks” between the MILF and the Philippine government in Malaysia have opened the door for further talks aimed at negotiating peace for the Southern Philippines. Christians worldwide need to pray as the security situation for Christians in the Philippines is deteriorating rapidly.

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DETERIORATING SECURITY

The security situation deteriorated markedly in Southern Philippines after a series of bombings and killings on the southern island of Mindanao through December 2002 and January 2003. In a Christmas Eve act of terrorism, a bomb made from an 81mm mortar shell filled with nail fragments exploded at the home of Mayor Saudie Ampatuan in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao province, claiming the lives of the mayor, a town councillor, the treasurer and a bodyguard and thirteen others. The MILF, or a terror cell operating within MILF, is the prime suspect.

The Philippines government then accused the MILF of harbouring the criminal Pentagong kidnapping terror gang and militant Islamist terror cells, and of operating a terror training base. The MILF leadership has itself confessed that MILF has become so large that it is difficult to maintain central control and hence criminals and terrorists, including al-Qaeda operatives, have infiltrated MILF ranks. (Link 1)

THE BATTLE FOR BULIOK

On 11 February 2003, the Philippine army launched a full-scale military attack on the MILF base, the Buliok complex in Pikit, Central Mindanao. The aim was to put MILF on the defensive and destroy the Buliok complex, which had replaced Camp Abubakar (which fell to the army on 9 July 2000) as the MILF’s headquarters.

It took one week for the Buliok complex to fall to the Philippine military. The army seized documents that indicated that the MILF was involved in terror training, the training of child combatants and the purchasing of arms for its Islamic insurgency. Some two hundred rebels died in the attack and more than 51,000 civilians were displaced.

The loss of its base did not stop the MILF. On 19 February there was a horrific massacre of civilians in the Christian village of Poblacian, Zamboanga that left 14 Christians dead. They had been dragged out of their homes, lined up in the street and cut down with machine-gun fire. One of the dead was an infant, shot while being cradled in his mother’s arms.

On Sunday 23 February, American forces began counter-terrorism exercises in Southern Mindanao, as they had done on Basilan Island. The US presence inflamed the rebels who feed off the history of the 1906 Battle of Bud Dajo, when 790 US troops armed with rifles, pistols and grenades massacred over a thousand men, women and children who fought with spears and swords in a three-day battle. The US presence raised tensions so high that on 24 February the nation was put on a “Red Alert” and by 3 March the US troops had been forced to withdraw.

On 5 March, the Sth Philippines suffered a serious terrorist attack when a powerful blast at the Davao City International Airport killed 21 and injured 148.

On 6 March, the Philippine military withdrew from the Buliok complex in order to secure the MILF’s return to the negotiating table. The area was declared a “zone of peace” from which all armed groups, including the military, would be barred.

On 10 March the MILF attempted to re-occupy the Buliok complex but were forced off by army helicopter gun-ships. Twenty rebels were killed and Libya, a mediator in the Sth Philippines conflict, requested a ceasefire. The government then offered to have peace talks and requested that Malaysia mediate. “The hand of peace is there for anybody who is willing to renounce violence and terrorism,” said President Arroyo.

TERROR CONTINUES

Acts of terror have continued, with killings, bombings and sabotage of key water and electricity installations. A bomb exploded outside the Cotabato Immaculate Cathedral during Mass on 18 March. Although the church was filled with worshippers, only five people were injured. On 25 March about 75 MILF guerrillas stopped a cargo truck on the outskirts Carmen town, looted the goods, tied up the Christian driver and his helper and then shot them dead. Then on 26 March rebels fired rocket launch grenades into homes in a Christian village, New Antique, in M’lang town, killing five civilians as they slept. Two others, one a young child, were also killed and six wounded.

The mayor in Paglat town had been helping in the campaign against the Muslim rebels. On Friday 29 March MILF rebels shot dead his son and nephew while they were riding a motorcycle. On Saturday 29 March about 30 MILF guerrillas broke into the home of a Christian family in Lambayong town before dawn and gunned down the father, mother and two children, before stealing the families livestock.

TALKS

The Philippine government and the MILF engaged in “exploratory talks” in Malaysia from 26-28 March. Malaysia’s Daily Express News quoted MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu as saying, “This is not the peace talks yet. It’s just an effort to revive contacts (between Manila and the MILF).”

Both parties have agreed to “exercise mutual restraint to minimize, if not put an end” to fighting in the south, and “undertake appropriate steps to pave the way for the resumption” of formal peace negotiations, and to work to “achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting political settlement of the conflict in Mindanao”. (To see MILF’s statement to Arab media in Dubai – see link 1. For the AFP report on the “exploratory talks” – see Link 2).

One issue that could be a potential threat to negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF is the issue of the war in Iraq. The Philippine government is pro-war due to the evidence it has that Iraq sponsors terrorism in Philippines. Fringe Islamist groups and the Communist New Peoples Army have threatened to engage in “sympathy attacks” against the government. While the MILF leadership has declared it will not engage in sympathy attacks, it is clear the MILF does not have control over all its members.

REVIVAL OF COMMUNIST INSURGENCY

As mentioned in the introduction, the security situation in Philippines is presently complicated further by the recent resurgence of the Communist New People’s Army (NPA). The NPA strongly opposes any US military presence in the Philippines and are threatening to form a “tactical alliance” with the Islamic rebels in order to form a united front against the government. It is reported that the NPA has already been in contact with the MILF.

The NPA’s victims are also predominantly Christian civilians, and the NPA is considered to be a bigger threat in the long term than the MILF. (Link 3)

– Elizabeth Kendal

— LINKS

1) Gulf News – Dubai “A long way to go for peace – MILF” by Edwin Fernandez, Central Mindanao 27 March 2003 http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=82242

2) Agence France-Presse 30 March 2003 “Rebels, Manila agree to new talks amid fresh fighting” http://sg.news.yahoo.com/030330/1/39k1e.html

3) “In Philippines, communist New People’s Army is reborn” Seth Mydans, The New York Times 26 March 2003 http://www.iht.com/articles/91196.html

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