But it’s no secret to us that in Lanao del Norte, there is a fanatic group called Good Shepherds. They owe the Moro a lot. They took lands away from the Moros. There were people killed. Some of them joined the MILF. They took revenge against the people. Maybe, this is hard to believe but we are trying to ask the government to allow an impartial group, most probably the international monitoring team, to conduct an investigation so we would know, once and for all, what is the truth. It should be an impartial group so that nobody doubts the result of the investigation.
The government doesn’t allow this, yet, but this is what we want.
Q: Has there been an investigation done by the MILF leadership as regards the two commanders?
Well it becomes moot and academic. When (the MILF attacks) happened, the government countered. As a result, there were more houses destroyed, more properties of civilians lost, or taken. There were indiscriminate bombings, shelling and excessive use of force in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte. So (to investigate our two commanders) becomes moot and academic. But still, the MILF would want the incident, the killing of the civilians, investigated. There should be justice for all victims of the attacks.
If we have to count the number of casualties, only one percent died among the settlers. There were more casualties on our part. I can cite to you some examples. In Manili massacre (which happened in 1971), 72 Muslims died, in the Tabuk Massacre and the Kauswagan Massacre, 73. In Palengla (1974), 1000 Moros were massacred inside the mosque, in Pata Island (1981), 2000 Moros, in Patikul, 700.
Were they given justice? I’m not saying the death of those killed in Lanao del Norte meant nothing because they must also be given justice. But first, you have to give justice to the Moro. Our people have been denied justice for far too long.
Q: We read in the MILF website www.luwaran.com that the MILF is already dealing with the two commanders. May we know some updates regarding the actions that the MILF has taken on them?
Well, we don’t want to imitate the government of the Philippines, during the February 4 massacre in Maimbung, (Sulu) early this year, where 15 civilians were killed.
The Human Rights Commission (sic) found the Marines responsible for or guilty of the crime but later, the Armed Forces of the Philippines came up with its own investigating team and came out with a report that the Marines were not guilty.
That is why we are saying, it should not be the CHR who should investigate because it is still an agency of the government. And besides, the findings might be reversed.
As to our commanders, we have internal rules to follow. We have our policies, our military discipline. We have the disciplinary board, we have Shariah Court. We should be the judge on this.
Secondly, as to the rules of engagement, the only thing that regulates our relationship with the government is the ceasefire agreement of 1997 and 2001.
In that ceasefire agreement, the opposing parties are responsible for the violations of their own members. If the violators are members of the MILF, then it should be the MILF who punishes them. If it is the government who committed the violation of the ceasefire, then they should deal with their own ranks, too.
There is no rule agreed by both parties in the ceasefire agreement that will require us to turn our erring commanders over to the government. Since there is none, what can we do? The MILF is a revolutionary organization. It has policy, it has ideology, integrity. What will happen to us if we turn them over?
Q: So do you mean that the two commanders had already been dealt with by the MILF leadership?
Well, that is internal to us. If I can cite an example in 2005, the Marines launched attacks in Palembang, Sultan Kudarat, and one of those killed was a member of the 106th (Base Command of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces) under Ombra Kato.
What Kato did after that was he exacted revenge in Maguindanao. There were soldiers killed. So, because they did a very clear violation of the ceasefire beyond reasonable doubt, we had to suspend the whole unit. We also suspended the direct commanders involved. We suspended them for more than one year.
Now, amid the violations and accusations hurled against government troops, the government refused to punish its men. They only assigned them (the violators) to other places.
Q: So, at least, Sir, there is an assurance that the MILF has already been dealing with the two commanders
Well basically, that’s more on discipline. We cannot say it (the two commanders’ action) is a criminal act or not. I’m not saying that. But the MILF has to make necessary disciplinary actions against them. (To be continued) (davaotoday.com)
Peace Process, Religion
