Offensives Vs MILF Won’t Stop During Ramadan: Gov’t

MANILA: Malacanang said Wednesday that military operations against rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will continue during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita explained that the ceasefire in Mindanao remains in effect. The objective of the military pursuit operations, he added, is to account for the renegade MILF members Commanders “Umbra Kato” and “Bravo” who had torched houses in a number of villages and killed several innocent civilians including children, women and the elderly.

Under the Islamic lunar calendar, Ramadan starts on Sept. 1 and ends on Sept. 31 this year.

Reiterating the government’s crackdown on the forces of Commanders Umbra Kato and Bravo, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Tuesday that the rampage of lawless MILF elements calls for resolute military and police action.

She stressed that the P10-million reward for Commanders Kato amid Bravo manifests the government’s firm resolve to hasten the neutralization of these criminals so that justice can be achieved and we can move on with the peace process.”

The Chief Executive pointed out that the government has never deviated from the objectives of the peace process with the MILF, but that peace must be based on justice.

She said that the Bravo and Kato belonged to lawless groups that had been historically creating trouble before and during the government-MILF peace negotiations.

The President that even if a peace agreement is finally signed between the government and the MILF, the rogue MILF groups would continue to pose problems to peace and order in Mindanao.

“So the campaign against them is intended to remove the obstacles to the peace process,” she said during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Global Gateway Logistics City in Clarkfield, Pampanga.

The Kato group plundered several barangays in North Cotabato, forcing hundreds of hapless civilians to flee their homes and farmlands.

Two weeks after the North Cotabato attacks, Bravo’s group launched an even more vicious rampage in several barangays in Lanao del Norte and Sarangani.

In her address beamed to the Filipino Muslims in Mindanao and friends of the Philippines overseas, the President said that the government is not engaged in an all-out war in the south. “What we are doing, we are doing to have an all-out peace in Mindanao.” (OPS/Pinoypress.net)