Why we still fight the MILF?

Soldier Pen's 

By BGen. Alexander Cabales (Ret.)

In our usual banter with friends, our topic swayed to my experiences as a former soldier particularly in January 1999 when I was almost killed by a friendly fire in the Battle of Camp Omar.  The friendly fire was one coming from fellow soldiers as distinguished from hostile fire which comes from the enemy.

The Battle of Camp Omar in Talayan, Maguindanao was the first major battle, and at that time the biggest that we had against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after the Philippine government signed a peace pact with the major Moro secessionist group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996. 

The MILF was an offshoot of a serious rift in the MNLF leadership, between its Chairman, Professor Nur Misuari and his Vice-Chairman, Dr. Hashim Salamat which started in 1977.  An MNLF faction called the "New Leadership" was formed under the leadership of Salamat.  Later in that year, the members of this group were suspended from the organization.  In 1984, it was formally organized as the MILF, another secessionist group distinct from the MNLF.

After the peace pact with the MNLF, the Philippine government has to face in battle another group, the MILF, who was not happy with the results of the 1996 peace agreement.  They felt that they were left out and were not included in the 'rewards' or the resulting concessions given by the government.  They felt that the peace accord did not answer the aspirations of the Moro people, that they were short changed and that it favored only a select group of people particularly those from Sulo, the home province of Misuari.

Thus, a new spate of fighting erupted in Central Mindanao, particularly in the Provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Saranggani, North and South Cotabato, Lanao del Sur and Norte and some parts of Davao.  (The sporadic fighting that erupted in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan and Sulo were with the Abu Sayyaf, MNLF Lost Commands and lawless groups that brand themselves either as MILF or MNLF factions).

History repeats itself. 

These were the same battle fronts from the '70s onward to the early '80s where many of our distinguished combat commanders earned their fame and stars.  More than 200,000 - soldiers, MNLF fighters and innocent non-combatant civilians - perished in this place in more than seven years of heavy fighting.   Less than three decades later, a new generation of Moro rebels rise up in arms again also against a new generation of soldiers. 

We were lieutenants when we first fought in this place called the 'Land of Promise,' reddened by blood spilled by Filipinos fighting against brother Filipinos.  Our gallant commanders then had long retired when many of us returned in the same place shortly before the turn of the century.  We were no longer fledgling lieutenants but commanders of comparatively better organized and better equipped fighting units. 

The young MNLF fighters we were fighting against in the '70s and '80s are now the commanders of field commands that also became better organized and equipped.  This time they are no longer with the MNLF but with the new secessionist movement that carried on the same aspirations of the Moro people.  The many young boys that used to play innocently and sometimes almost naked in the dusty roads of Shariff Aguak, Datu Piang, S. K. Pendatun, Sultan sa Barongis and other forgotten places now carry weapons of destruction raring to kill his Christian brothers. 

When will this fighting ever end?

My friends enjoyed listening to the action part of my story.  They were so engrossed with their friend's heroics, his Lito Lapid style of action and how he outmaneuvered the MILF forces that kept him alive.                         They were amused with my near brush with death caused by the stupidity of the commander of the 105 mm howitzer canons that fired at my position. 

Yes, many people would find these stories interesting but nobody bothered to ask why I had to go back to the same place where I started my military career as a young soldier.  Nobody was interested to know why I had to fight the same type of war several years after our government declared strategic victory in that same place.  Nobody wanted to know why my two soldier-sons are now fighting the sons of the MNLF and MILF fighters I was fighting against in the past. 

To them and alas, to many of our top leaders, the question as to WHY the Moro people, as well as the NPA, the Abu Sayyaf and other disgruntled elements of our country continue to fight against the government would not merit their attention. 

The government may still succeed in the fight against the MILF.  They can craft a token peace agreement, bribe off its leaders and once again declare strategic victory but unless we come up with a sincere program to address the real aspirations of the Moro people another MNLF or MILF with a different name will rise again.