“President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo must not let her political association with the Ampatuan family stand in the way of a speedy and impartial investigation into the incident. The national government must step in and enforce the law since the local police is not likely capable of conducting an impartial probe or may be vulnerable to pressure by the powerful political families in the province.”

The Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Party-list today urges the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Food Authority (NFA) to prioritize the development of agriculture in Mindanao to supply the needed food stocks required by the whole country.

ISLAMIC SEPARATISM   By Rohaniza Sumndad  |  Some 500,000 people in Mindanao, especially children, have been displaced from their homes and live in fear due to continued armed conflict. There is a great need to heal and rebuild communities that have been traumatized by violence.

By Mike G. Kulat  |  The recent squabbles within the government and the deplorable conditions of over half a million refugees brought about by the aborted signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain can be considered one of the greatest dramas in the annals of Philippine history.

A new Supreme Court ruling has ended hope of a peaceful resolution in the near future to the decades-old conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippines government. The Philippines: The Collapse of Peace in Mindanao, the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, says the immediate task now is to prevent escalation of fighting and discourage the government and local officials from arming civilians. Interested governments and donors should press both sides to keep existing ceasefire mechanisms in place, while quietly urging a return to talks.

The recent conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and government forces threatened communities in southern Philippines, including the predominantly Muslim provinces in Mindanao. This resulted in 511,090 persons being displaced during the height of the conflict.

The prospect of serious renewed fighting breaking out in Mindanao after the end of Ramadan has got Christian and Muslim organizations trying to work out how best to help keep the peace and kick-start renewed talks while helping out in the huge relief effort needed.

The European Union is deeply concerned by the escalation of violence in Mindanao, the growing number of civilian casualties and displaced persons.

The nongovernment group Kabiba Alliance, a children’s right advocate based in Davao City, circulated photographs (such as the one at left) of children maimed and killed allegedly during military air strikes in Maguindanao. According to reports, the air strikes — supposedly aimed at Moro rebels — killed civilians, five of them children. The photos, which show graphic and grisly images of the children, can be viewed here.

By Carlos H. Conde
About the only thing that is different in the present war are the names of the military commanders running it. Everything else remains the same — the displaced civilians, the suffering children, the fragile peace process, and the ever-burning desire of the Moros to attain self-determination.

The MILF insists that a “final solution” that does not represent the aspirations and interests of the Moro people is out of the question. “The reality is, unless the economic, political, religious and cultural interests of the Bangsamoro people are protected, there will be no peace agreement,” MILF chairman Al Haj Ebrahim Murad said.

To say that Akas Unsay and his fellow Moro villagers are used to a life of constant displacement is an understatement. “We are forced to lead this kind of life,” he said.

The future of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Mindanao, the region in the southern Philippines that has been the hotbed of Islamic separatism, is in the hands of young Muslims like Manex Ulam. They want to see the peace process between the front and Manila succeed, but no one but the government should be blamed if it fails, Ulam said.

Since the government’s major offensive against the rebels belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front started in 2000, hundreds of thousands of Filipino Muslims have been displaced. Although most have returned to their homes and lands, there are still thousands of them in refugee camps such as the one here, their numbers swelling each time the government conducts more offensives against the rebels.

“Up to half a million people have been affected by the hostilities, and tens of thousands of them have had to flee their homes,” said the ICRC’s Dominik Stillhart. “Given the breakdown of the peace process, civilians will continue to suffer the effects of the armed conflict.”