The military
is adhering to the line of the government’s road to peace with
rebel groups, but said that in case peace talks bogs down, it is ready to
eliminate armed resistance.
Lieutenant
Colonel Harold Cabunoc, Public Affairs Office chief of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines
On Wednesday,
MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar laid down their
options and possible scenarios if Congress shoots down the draft
Bangsamoro Basic Law.
Ghadzali
said one option is for them to elevate their redress to the United Nations.
Another is the possibility that their men go back to war against the government.
Jaafar also feared their units may break away from the MILF and join the
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
MILF chairman Al
Haj Murad and chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said they could not accept a
“watered-down” BBL.
But lawmakers,
legal luminaries and constitutionalists saw dangers in the BBL if passed
in its present form: Some of its provisions are unconstitutional, and
endanger national security.
In 2008, the MILF
split into two after the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD)
was junked by the Supreme Court because the magistrates said the
agreement was unconstitutional. This prompted some commanders of the MILF to
launch attacks not only against government forces but also civilian
communities.
The BIFF faction
emerged after the MILF leadership expelled one of its commanders, Ameril Umbra
Kato, for not supporting the resumption of the peace talks with the government.
The faction turned “spoiler of peace” by launching violent activities in some
parts of Maguindanao and North Cotabato .
“The AFP
maintains a credible deterrence to any armed threats all over the country,”
Cabunoc said, reiterating the preparedness of the Armed Forces in case war
erupts again if the BBL is rejected.
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/03/27/war-drums-beating-but-afp-says-it-s-prepared/
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