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Govt forces, MILF faction clash on eve of ARMM polls


(Updated 5:20 p.m.) Major clashes between government forces and a "breakaway group" from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have erupted in some villages in North Cotabato province on the eve of the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Radio dzBB's Benjie Liwanag on Sunday reported that according to Col. Diosdado Carreon, the 40th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army fired howitzer shells into the position of MILF rebels who had continued to stay in some areas in North Cotabato. Liwanag said residents of Baliki village in Midsayap town fled the area amid shelling of mortars by the military. Sniping attacks in Baliki were also reported but it was not clear if it came from the government forces or the MILF. The military said the MILF "breakaway" forces in North Cotabato that occupied 22 villages in five towns had been considered as a "bandit group" after they refused to vacate the villages. The MILF's "lost command" is headed by Commander Umbra Cato who reportedly controls about 1,500 men, according to the military. “With the defiance of the MILF 105th base command to pull put from illegally occupied areas in North Cotabato, the group has degenerated into a plain bandit group and considered as lost command," said Brig. Gen. Jorge Segovia, acting chief of the Armed Forces’ command center in the area. The military official said Sunday morning’s operation was not covered by the ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF since the enemy faction involved is working “outside (of) the MILF organization. Liwanag said that based on information he gathered from the military, gunfire exchange started before 8 a.m. Sunday. "Walang tigil ang putukan. Dumadagundong ang lupa. (Shooting doesn't stop. The ground is shaking with the reverberating sounds of gunfire)," said Liwanag who was told by a Baliki resident only identified as "Dodong" that the area where Liwanag was staying was just about 200 to 500 meters from the site of the clashes. "Ngayon ang narinig kong pinakamatinding putukan (Today I heard the loudest gunfire exchange)," a male Baliki resident told Liwanag in an interview, adding that the clashes had been going on for the last two weeks. Wounded soldiers At about 11 a.m., Liwanag said he received reports from Major Armand Rico, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Eastern Mindanao Command, that two soldiers were injured in another AFP-MILF clash in Kolambog village in Pikit town. He said AFP-MILF clashes were also happening in the Gayunga area. The casualties were initially identified as Corporal Jennes Freinella and private first class Carvelo Tavares. A report from the military said the two were hit by MILF sniper and M-203 grenade launcher fires. Freinella and Tavares were rushed to the Cruzado Medical Hospital in Pikit. But according to North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol, four soldiers have already been injured from the clashes in Tapodoc village in Aleosan town, and in a village in Pikit. Piñol said one of the soldiers was seriously wounded in the head. Piñol confirmed to dzBB that encounters between the AFP and the MILF had started in the towns of Aleonan, Tigkawayan, and Libungan. Continuous shelling MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu, in an interview with radio dzBB on Sunday confirmed reports on the "continuous shelling" from the military. He also confirmed that there were MILF contingents in Baliki but "it's small." He said the continuous shelling had "interfered" with the MILF's move to vacate the areas in North Cotabato, which was earlier ordered by the government. He said there was already preparations for the reposition of MILF troops from Cotabato. He did not elaborate. Last Thursday, the Philippine government issued a 24-hour ultimatum for the MILF to pull out its forces from Aleosan. ARMM elections The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday declared that it was ready to secure the elections in the ARMM. PNP chief Dir. Gen. Avelino Razon Jr said the tension involving the MILF would not affect Monday's holding of the first automated polls. "Yong PNP, handa na. Ang clearing operation sa North Cotabato ay pinagtutulungan ng Armed Forces of the Philippines, PNP, MILF, local government unit at International Monitoring Team (The PNP is ready for the ARMM polls. The PNP, AFP, local government units and IMT and MILF are taking care of clearing operations in North Cotabato)," Razon said in an interview on dzBB radio. He also said there would be less chance for election-related violence disrupting the polls especially during the counting, which he said would be automated. Razon said police in North Cotabato were coordinating with the proper authorities to help farmers and residents displaced by the occupying MILF forces return to their homes. "May areas na umalis na ang MILF. Pinupursiging maipatupad ang pinag-uutos sa ibang lugar (There are areas where the MILF had withdrawn. We are now working on clearing the other areas)," he said. For its part, the military said it had added more checkpoints in key areas to head off possible violence in the ARMM. Homeland deal Before the Supreme Court stopped on August 5 the homeland deal between the Arroyo administration and the MILF, Kabalu said the proposed pact, even if signed, would become useless if the elections in the ARMM push through. Kabalu warned that the MILF leadership might not be able to stop its people from causing tension or even trouble in Mindanao if the Philippine government conducts the ARMM polls. He said the deal “will be sacrificed" with the ARMM polls that would give a three-year fresh mandate to elected officials. “Pag nagkapirmahan, and then you want to implement the agreement…eh hindi po natin maisasagawa sapagkat kung matutuloy ang elections. ‘Yong mga tao diyan ay makakakuha ng fresh mandate na three years, fixed po ‘yan. So hindi po puwede na gagalawin ‘yan. Masasakripisyo ‘yong pagkapirma doon sa agreement, magiging balewala...sapagkat di po mai-implement," said Kabalu. (Even if the deal is signed, we won’t be able to implement it if the elections push through. Those who will be elected will be given a fresh and fixed mandate of three years. We won’t be able to touch that even with the signed agreement. The signing of the deal will be sacrificed and will become useless because we won’t be able to implement it.) The proposed deal will create a Bangsamoro homeland that will have its own “basic law," and its own internal security force. Adopting a political system being implemented by the Philippine government through the ARMM elections appears to be contrary to the deal that will give power to the MILF to have its own legislative and electoral institutions that will be governed by the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. The deal will also allow the Bangsamoro to have its own banking and finance, civil service, and education systems, and the full authority to develop and dispose minerals and other natural resources within its turf, which is composed of all the provinces in the ARMM, namely Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabusnsuan, Tawi-Tawi and the Islamic City of Marawi. Kabalu said that with the deal, the ARMM territory would be expanded with the inclusion of several villages that are “contiguous or adjacent" to the region. Some analysts claim that the deal will require changes in the 1987 Philippine Constitution, a move that was repeatedly pushed by the allies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo but was opposed by her detractors who claimed that Charter change was part of a ploy to make the chief executive stay in power beyond 2010. - GMANews.TV
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