The military wing of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) have repositioned more than a thousand of its fighters in several
barangays to avoid a mis-encounter as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
continues its law enforcement operations against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Fighters (BIFF) and other terrorist groups operating in the province.
Last February 5, the AFP’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade
initiated a law enforcement operation against the BIFF that traversed through
Barangays Gawang and Madia in Datu Saudi Ampatuan municipality and Barangays
Tee and Andavit in Datu Salibo town. Prior to the operation, the MILF
repositioned a total of 1,737 members of its Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces
(BIAF) to give way to the AFP’s pursuit operations against the BIFF.
“All BIAF forces in these areas are repositioned to allow
our armed forces the freedom to operate against the BIFF. We want to avoid
mis-encounters between the government forces and the MILF,” said Director
Carlos Sol Jr., Head of the GPH Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of
Hostilities (CCCH) Secretariat. “We repositioned the MILF from their
communities to three repositioning sites.”
Established in 2003, the CCCH is tasked with monitoring the
implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF.
Aside from resolving complaints over ceasefire violations so that small
skirmishes do not intensify, the CCCH is also instrumental in maintaining peace
and order in communities with members of the MILF.
The sites mentioned by Dir. Sol include Sitio Udsuran, Brgy.
Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan; Sitio Diate, Brgy. Pamalian and Sitio Balbugan,
Brgy. Pagatin, Shariff of Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao. The more than one
thousand BIAF members are from the MILF’s 105th, 118th, and the Interim and
National base commands.
Meanwhile, civilians affected by the law enforcement
operation composed mostly of families of the repositioned BIAF combatants are
being assisted by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao-Humanitarian Emergency
Action and Response Team (ARMM-HEART), the provincial government of
Maguindanao, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Majority of the civilians are temporarily staying with their
relatives in Barangays Madia, Dapiawan, Kitango, and other secured areas. The
DSWD 12, through the CCCH, have been providing those affected by the
repositioning with provisional food packs every ten days. The CCCH said that
the DSWD 12 will be assisting until the situation normalized.
Sol explained that the repositioning was an excellent
example of how the coordination between government and MILF forces was pivotal
in the conduct of law enforcement operations and preventing mis-encounters. The
MILF, on the other hand, has expressed its continued commitment in assisting
the Philippine government in its pursuit of the BIFF.
“[T]he partnership [between the government and the MILF] is
on because the peace agreement and [the] ceasefire agreement did not collapse,”
said one MILF member assigned to the CCCH.
The ongoing AFP operation is near the so-called SPMS Box –
Salbo, Pagatin, Mamasapano, Shariff Aguak– where about 6,000 BIAF members and
their families reside. Sol said the MILF has given assurances that in case the
pursuit operation would spread, the MILF would also be willing and ready to
reposition their forces there.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=860674
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