Moro leader in Isabela gives up on peace

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela – A Muslim leader in this northern city on Wednesday said violence in Central Mindanao was a logical offshoot of the failed signing of the government’s Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and that no amount of negotiations may resolve the conflict anymore. Sultan Allan Lagundab Lagundab said if the problems in Mindanao cannot be solved anymore, then an all-out war maybe the last recourse. “Pinaasa lang ng gobyerno ang MILF sa halip na matapos na ang problema. Mas-mabuti pang walang MOA, hindi na mareresolba ng kahit na anong usapan ang kaguluhan sa Mindanao (The government only gave them false hopes. It would have been better if there was no MOA. Now no amount of negotiations might stop the violence in Mindanao," he said. “Kung hindi na matigil ‘yan, all out-war na lang ang paraan para matapos na ang kaguluhan, at para magkaalaman na (Perhaps an all-out war would be the best way to end the violence and to resolve the conflict once and for all," he said. Asked about the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire between the MILF and government forces, Lagundab said that whatever happens to the victims of the conflict is already an “act of God." While some younger Muslim residents in the city are enraged by the on-going conflict, their elders remain calm and impassive. A respected Santiago city Muslim old-timer, who asked not to be named, said he is hoping that the government and members of the MILF peace panel can still sit down and talk things over. “I condemn the criminal acts committed by some MILF members in Kauswagan and Kolambugan in Lanao del Norte, I pity the women and children, who are victims of this long-drawn war, I’m so sad when I saw on television our Muslim brothers killing innocent civilians but I'm still hopeful that this will all pass," he said. - GMANews.TV