Peace pact with MILF should hold despite Basilan clashes, say Aquino and Deles

From InterAksyon (Apr 16): Peace pact with MILF should hold despite Basilan clashes, say Aquino and Deles

President Benigno Aquino III and his peace adviser said Wednesday they are confident the peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front would hold despite fresh clashes that left four of MILF members dead.

The fighting in Basilan last Friday took place just two weeks after the 10,000-member MILF signed the deal to end their decades-old rebellion, which had claimed tens of thousands of lives.

MILF fighters reportedly helped Abu Sayyaf fighters battling government troops but did so without their leadership's permission, presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles said.

Two soldiers and 18 gunmen were slain in the Basilan hostilities, the military said, while the MILF acknowledged four of its members were among those killed.

Asked if the Basilan incident would impact on the peace agreement, Aquino told reporters: "Well, number one, ang pagkaintindi ko ginamit natin ang mga mekanismo para hindi nga magkaroon ng hindi pagkaka-unawaan at na-inform ang MILF tungkol dito sa operation na ito (my understanding is that we used the mechanisms to avoid any misunderstanding and informed the MILF about this operation)."

"'Yung napatay na miyembro nila ay hindi nandoon sa engkwentro bilang miyembro ng MILF kundi dahil mga kamag-anak nun'g Abu Sayyaf na hinahabol. So mas (Those members of theirs who were killed were not there as members of the MILF but as relatives of the Abu Sayyaf who were being pursued. So it was more) personal rather than political or ideological," Aquino pointed out.

"So, hindi natin nakikita na magiging problema o balakid 'yan dito sa napirmahang Comprehensive Agreement (So, we don't see this as a big problem or obstacle to the Comprehensive Agreement we signed)," he added.

"This will not affect the entire peace process," Deles told AFP. "The resolve of both parties has not waned."

The peace treaty aims to set up the new Bangsamoro autonomous region.
The MILF is expected to disarm and put up candidates for a regional parliament to be elected in May 2016.

"We are still confident that the MILF leadership can bring a huge bulk of their fighters into the fold of the law," Deles said, though conceding a "small number" of the rebel force may opt to ignore the peace deal.

Any such faction would be "subjected to law enforcement activities," she added.

MILF vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar denounced the Basilan violence and asked an independent body monitoring a ceasefire between the rebels and the government to investigate the fighting, which he alleged was initiated by the military.

The military has said the slain MILF fighters were apparently drawn into the fighting because they had relatives among the Abu Sayyaf gunmen involved in the shootout.

Abu Sayyaf gunmen are believed to be still holding a number of foreign hostages on another island in the restive southern region, possibly including a Chinese tourist seized from a Malaysian dive resort on April 2.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/84935/peace-pact-with-milf-should-hold-despite-basilan-clashes-say-aquino-and-deles