Esperon: NCotabato clashes won't affect talks with MILF

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr said Monday that the skirmishes in North Cotabato between security forces and a faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will not affect the government's peace negotiations with the MILF. In a statement, Esperon maintained that the government is "determined to push the peace process to its conclusion until the long-drawn Mindanao conflict is resolved." "We will continue to pursue peace. The fighting in North Cotabato will not in any way disrupt our focus for a genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao," Esperon said. "Negotiations will continue," he added. At present, government forces are flushing out MILF rebels led by Umbra Kato who refuse to leave certain villages in several North Cotabato towns. Philippine Air Force (PAF) planes and helicopter gun ships have already bombed defiant MILF fighters entrenched in the town of Pikit, North Cotabato on Sunday. A report by the Camp Aguinaldo-based National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said that as of 6 a.m. Monday, one soldier had died while six others got wounded in the military campaign. Last week, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno issued an ultimatum to MILF forces to leave North Cotabato by 10 a.m. last Friday or the military and police would take punitive action to enforce the law. Many MILF rebels left the area, except the group of Umbra Kato who defied the order by the MILF leadership. Hostilities erupted early Friday, even before the government-issued deadline lapsed. Esperon said the swift action of the military against a defiant faction of the MILF showed that it is always ready to defend the people in North Cotabato or any part of the country threatened by lawless elements. - GMANews.TV