Ermita: Evacuees in Mindanao going up
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/22/2008 4:14 PM
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The number of evacuees displaced by the conflict between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao has been rising in the past three weeks.
"Dumadami nga e (It's even rising)," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Wednesday when asked about the condition of evacuees.
Based on the October 22 update of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), the number of evacuees inside evacuation centers has reached 20,215 families or over 100,000 persons "due to the increase in the number of evacuees in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur."
The number of displaced persons outside evacuation centers has reached nearly 60,000 families or 289,000 persons.
All in all, the number of internally-displaced went up from 75,736 families or 370,697 persons around a week ago to 79,274 families or 389,768 persons as of October 22.
The total number of internally-displaced families had dipped to around 60,000 families during the third week of September.
MILF central leaders still want peace
Meanwhile, Ermita stressed the need to make three renegade MILF commanders account for their alleged criminal acts after they attacked Christian villages in August following the Supreme Court's August 4 decision stopping the signing of the the ancestral homeland agreement between the government and the MILF.
Ermita said 91 civilians were killed after August 5, 120 were injured, and nearly 2,500 homes were destroyed as a result of the reprisals taken by the renegade MILF commanders such as Umbra Kato on the non-signing of the homeland accord.
Ermita said the MILF central committee is still interested in pursuing peace talks with the government, but the group of Commander Umbra Kato and two others continue to defy the orders of the MILF leadership.
He challenged the MILF leaders to hold the three renegade MILF commanders accountable for their attacks.
Asked to comment on ABS-CBN News' exclusive interview with Abdullah Macapaar alias Commander Bravo on Monday, Ermita said the statements of Bravo that he will continue the battle for a separate Bangsamoro homeland is to be expected.
He said this statement simply shows that Bravo does not follow instructions from the MILF central committee, and it also means that the government should continue to pursue Bravo and the rest of the rogue MILF commanders plus their men.
Bravo to pursue independence
In an interview with ABS-CBN aired Monday, Bravo blamed the Arroyo administration for the continuing violence in Mindanao after the government failed to approve a territorial land deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
In an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN Correspondent Jorge Cariño, Bravo said the government's decision to scrap the proposed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) showed that President Arroyo was not serious about pursuing peace in Mindanao.
He also warned that his troops will resort to aggression until the government cedes control of Mindanao to the Bangsamoro people.
"We want to have peace in Mindanao. It is good that the MOA-AD was not signed because now we want the independence of the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao. We are willing to risk our lives until we achieve peace and Islamic justice in Mindanao," he said in Tagalog.
Bravo, who has a P10 million bounty on his head, admitted that his forces under the MILF 102nd Base Command wreaked havoc in Kauswagan and Kolambugan towns in Lanao del Norte province last August after the government reneged on its promise to sign the land deal.
"We did not kill civilians because that is forbidden under the religion of Islam. However, there were stray bullets in the crossfire. Some of the civilians were members of the Ilaga who tried to fight us," he said.
Bravo also warned that he is willing to "fight up to the last man" until the MILF achieves its goal of independence for the Bangsamoro people.
“President Madam Arroyo and your right hand men including the generals...if you want war, then war it will be. You think the MoA-AD is insignificant. You didn’t push for it. We, as Muslims, own Mindanao. You have no right to Mindanao. Mag-giyera tayo kung kailangang magkaubusan ng lahi. All for the Islamic justice of the Bangsamoro people of Mindanao,” he said.
