Filipino Muslims fear fighting recurrence (Pic courtesy of Manila Times)

By Rexcel Sorza, IOL Correspondent

ILOILO CITY , January 26 (IslamOnline.net) - A peace advocacy group expressed fears that skirmishes between the Philippine military and Bangsamoro fighters taking place in Mindanao these past weeks would turn into a fighting akin to what took place on the eve of last year’s Eid Al-Adha.

“Are we going to see a repeat of the Buliok war last February 11, 2003? Are the Philippine Army's 6th Infantry Division and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) going to give the evacuees along the Liguasan Marsh an “anniversary” evacuation this coming February?

"Is the military going to start bombings again at the start of Eid Al-Adha?” the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) said in a statement received by IslamOnline.net Monday, January 26.

Victor Sapar, IID Coordinator for Information and Communication, said that clashes between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the MILF happening in Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Datu Piang towns in Maguindanao province since mid-January “are dangerous fires that should be doused.”

He stressed that this early “many civilians in those towns have started to pack up their belongings including their livestock and preparing for another uncertain life in the evacuation centers.” Some 4,500 individuals have left their homes last week.

“Let us not allow history to repeat itself.  Let us not allow a repeat of the disastrous Buliok war,” Sapar said.

Though cognizant of the efforts of the Joint GRP-MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities undertaken to verify reports of ceasefire violations on the ground and hopefully prevent war from breaking out, IID laments that “stronger forces within the [Philippine] military seem to be unmindful of the ceasefire agreement.”

IID also assailed the military for justifying the attacks. “The familiar lines used to justify the attack in Buliok - the pursuit of kidnappers, or the Abu Sayyaf Group, or lawless elements - are again being used to justify military action in areas in Maguindanao where MILF units are based.”

During field monitoring of Bantay Cease-fire (Case-fire Watch) in Maguindanao last January 18, an Army officer told the group that they are simply waiting for them, the Joint-CCCH and the Bantay Ceasefire, “to leave so that they can restart the war.” Bantay Cease-fire is a multi-sectoral group monitoring the implementation and adherence to the GRP-MILF cease-fire agreements by both parties.

Sapar says, “It is ironic that there are now armed clashes in South Upi while troops are being deployed to Datu Piang and Datu Saudi Ampatuan. Earlier this month, there were sightings of fully armed MILF fighters on the move in Kitango and Gawang villages in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao.”

The group welcomes the announcement made by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on January 20 that the exploratory talks would take place next month, but “while the joint pronouncements of the highest officials of the two countries carry much weight, we continue to be wary.

For indeed, promises were made since July 2003 that such talks would resume ‘next week, next month, next year.’  Indeed, peace should now be ‘within grasp’.”

Bantay Cease-fire calls on the Army's 6th Infantry Division and the MILF “to stop troop movements to prevent armed engagements and de-escalate current tensions in Maguindanao.”

It also reiterates its recommendation for the deployment of the Malaysian-led international ceasefire monitoring team to Maguindanao to ensure the strictest observance of the ceasefire by all combatants.

In last year’s government attack on Buliok Complex, a 200-hectare enclave where the MILF Central Command Headquarters once stood, more than 50,000 residents evacuated and some 100 lives were lost.