MNLF blames Noy, Mar for prolonged conflict

From the Daily Tribune (Sep 16): MNLF blames Noy, Mar for prolonged conflict

REBELS CLAIM BID FOR PROBE MET WITH MILITARY MIGHT

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) faction of Chairman Nur Misuari yesterday blamed President Aquino and Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II for the drawn-out armed skirmish between government forces and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Zamboanga City that entered its first week yesterday with no resolution seen.

MNLF spokesman lawyer Emmanuel Fontanilla even described Roxas and Aquino as the faces of Syria’s Bashar Assad whose government has been the subject of bloody uprising which has dragged for months now.

Fontanilla accused the Aquino government of militarizing the Zamboanga City incident, using its might against the MNLF fighters.

“Aquino and Roxas are the faces of Assad in the Philippines. What is only lacking is that they use chemical weapons against the civilians and the MNLF,” Fontanilla said.

“From the inception of the incident, the MNLF requested independent investigation by an international party, instead the government militarized the issue and used superior powers and number showing the brutal might of the State without regard to civilians,” added Fontanilla.

Fontanilla likened such action to Syrian leader Assad and the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. There are speculations that Assad’s forces used chemical weapons in targeting anti-government positions in Syria. The MNLF spokesman warned that with such government response, the issue will just drag on.

“Under the baton of Roxas, this mayhem will continue,” warned Fontanilla.

The Zamboanga City crisis started last Monday when about 300 MNLF fighters, led by Misuari loyalist Habier Malik, infiltrated five barangays and took around 200 civilians as human shields.

The MNLF claimed that the MNLF supporters of Misuari were only out to hold peaceful march towards the city hall but were prevented and engaged by government forces.

Sporadic clashes have been erupting from time to time between the opposing sides. However, the MNLF forces remained holed up in five barangays, namely, Sta. Barbara, Sta. Catalina, Talon-Talon, Mampang, and Mariki.

As of press time yesterday, the MNLF, estimated at a “little over a hundred” continued to hold civilians as hostages.

The incident already prompted President Aquino to personally fly to Zamboanga City last Friday, apparently to assess the situation.

Roxas and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin have been in Zamboanga City at the early stages of the standoff but there has been no major breakthrough.

State forces continued to advance and move toward enemy positions since launching what the Palace called as calibrated actions Friday against members of the MNLF faction of Nur.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Affairs Office chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said the government forces, including the elite Scout Ranger and Light Reaction Company, had gained control of some areas previously held by MNLF forces.

“We’re gaining ground, we’re moving forward, we have controlled some areas they held (but) I cannot delve into details,” said Zagala.

From about 200 armed men, the MNLF Misuari faction still subject of the calibrated action of the military went down to “a little over a hundred”, said Zagala.

“I cannot tell you the locations (because) our operations will be compromised,” he added.

Since Friday, fighting rages in Barangay Sta. Barbara and Sta. Catalina, where forced evacuation had been ordered by the Zamboanga City Council.

Other barangays affected by the forced evacuation were Talon-Taon, RioHondn, Mampang and Mariki.

“We have the operational momentum, the operational tempo is dictated by us,” said Zagala.

So far, six soldiers and policemen had been killed since the fighting erupted last Monday when MNLF forces infliltrated five barangays in Zamboanga City. Fifty-nine other government troops were wounded.

On the other hand, Zagala said that at least 51 MNLF members were killed while 19 others were either captured or surrendered.

Only yesterday, Zagala said that a number of MNLF rebels were either killed or surrendered and captured but he has no details.

“We are looking into a speedy conclusion but again we don’t want to use speed as our basis, it ust be calibrated because there are hostages. We are not in a haste. Our focus is really for the hostages not to be hurt,” said Zagala.

From as high as 200 civilian hostages, Zagala said that the number significant dropped since the launching of calibrated action against the MNLF.

“Our previous estimate was close to 180, of course, that has changed already but we don’t have the updated date,” said Zagala.

Meanwhile, the Office of Civil Defense-9 (OCD-9) reported that more than 20,000 families have been displaced by the week-long crisis in Zamboanga City.

Adriano Fuego, OCD-9 director, said that as of 11 a.m. Sunday, a total of 10,950 families composed of 58,051 persons evacuated from their homes and now staying inside 22 evacuation centers.

Fuego said there are approximately 10,000 others who opted to stay with their relatives.

As troops moved through the Santa Barbara district, the extent of the damage from seven days of fighting came into full view.

Several buildings were reduced to smouldering heaps while others were pockmarked with bullet holes, an AFP reporter said.

Soldiers recovered the bodies of two slain gunmen still clinging to their rifles, and several unexploded warheads for use in rocket-propelled grenades had been left behind by the fleeing rebels.

In the distance, black smoke billowed from another area that had just gone up in flames.

And in a nearby district, a group of soldiers could be seen crouched on the street as sniper fire whizzed just above their heads, television footage showed.

Heavily-armed MNLF forces entered the port city’s coastal neighborhoods Monday and took dozens of hostages.

The fighting was now concentrated only in two coastal districts, while other areas were secure.

Police said many hostages were either freed or escaped and the number was now down to only a few from as high as 200 in the early part of the crisis.

But the attack underscored the complexity of ending conflict in the southern third of the mostly Catholic Philippines, where there are several armed Muslim factions and which has seen a proliferation of unlicensed firearms.

Day and night operations by at least 3,000 elite government troops have now seen 51 MNLF rebels killed, as well as six soldiers, a policemen and four civilians.

Air and sea ports remained closed Sunday in a crisis that has paralyzed the city of one million, seen entire neighborhoods razed to the ground, and forced tens of thousands to flee.

“This is really catastrophic, we’re not prepared for this,” Zamboanga chamber of commerce president Pedro Rufo Soliven said.

He said that based on initial estimates the economic losses to Zamboanga, home to a major sardine canning industry, could be as much as P50 billion a day.

“Even if the fighting ends now, this will have a long-term impact because investors now will be wary of the fragile peace,” he said.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said the number of people who had fled to temporary shelters had risen to more than 69,000 by Sunday morning.

“The number swelled yesterday because thousands more evacuated from areas the rebels were likely to use as escape routes,” she told AFP.

At least 10,000 displaced persons, meanwhile, will now be served with hot meals by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) every day as the current standoff in Zamboanga continues.

Red Cross Zamboanga City Chapter reported that some 96,000 people are affected while 18,000 are now displaced and are staying in nine evacuation centers because of the fighting.

“PRC with the support from the International Committee of the Red Cross is serving 8,000 liters of water per day and has provided psychosocial support to some 3,000 residents, and addressed the health needs of at least 1,000 displaced persons,” PRC chairman Richard Gordon said.

Gordon said medical supplies and other essential non-food items are prepositioned for nonstop operations.

To support the continuous PRC shipments of human blood, food and non-food items, the ICRC also in close coordination with the PRC, provided food parcels, kitchen utensils, tarpaulin for basic shelter, medical supplies, and vital supplies of food.

Moreover, staff and volunteers from Zamboanga-Sibugay also arrived at the local PRC to assist in the operation.

Red Cross staff and volunteers strive to continuously deliver services amid all the chaos caused by the exchange of gun fire.

At least 10 Red Cross staff and volunteers were wounded by a grenade blast while transporting patients to medical stations for treatment.

Spare the innocent civilians, especially women, children and the elderly, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said as he urged for a cessation of armed hostilities in Zamboanga City.

Both parties should negotiate for an immediate truce in good faith because bullets will not ensure the resolution of the problem, sparked by decades-old aspirations by the Muslims to secede from the country and establish their own Bangsamoro Republic in Southern Philippines, he said.

In the event of a cessation of hostilities, the government and the MNLF should then go to the negotiating table to discuss the terms of a lasting peace agreement or seek the help of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) when domestic talks fail, Pimentel said.

In the event though that no resolution is achieved at the ASEAN level, the senator said, the MNLF could still elevate the issue to the United Nations (UN) as the final arbiter of the conflict which has so far claimed several lives from both sides, including innocent civilians in addition to properties destroyed by fire.....

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