Military to continue ops against lawless elements despite North Cotabato incident

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 27): Military to continue ops against lawless elements despite North Cotabato incident

Despite the encounter in Makilala town, North Cotabato which left one New People's Army (NPA) rebel dead and resulted in the capture of three high-powered firearms last weekend, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the military will not stop its operations against lawless elements threatening the citizenry.

He also dismissed talks that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the defense establishments are out to sabotage the ongoing peace talks with the National Democratic Front.

Lorenzana said the Makilala, North Cotabato clash was initially a police operation as civilians reported that some armed men were harassing businessmen in Barangay Biangan, refusing to give in to their extortion demand.

And when a firefight erupted, these police officers then requested assistance from the nearby 39th Infantry Battalion, that immediately responded and engaged the armed men, killing one.

"It turned out that these armed men were not the usual criminals but members of the NPA. Now, they accuse us of sabotaging the peace process," the DND chief said in Filipino.

But despite this, Lorenzana said they will not stop their operations against lawless elements in the area, adding that it was only incidental that an NPA member was killed in the process.

"They were doing some maybe lawless acts that's why they were reported by the people, so that does not constitute sabotaging the talks. In fact, I would throw back the question to them -- what are they doing there with their firearms in the populated areas so in a way they are the ones sabotaging the peace talks," the DND chief stressed.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=958734