Mission to Launch Global Campaign 
vs Gov't Offensives in South 
Calls for immediate return of thousands of evacuees

Fresh from a fact-finding mission in Central Mindanao to verify reports of human rights violations reportedly committed in recent offensives against Moro guerrillas, leaders of human rights groups, a Moro-Christian alliance and health teams said they will launch an international campaign to press for the safe return of 100,000 civilians displaced by the war. They also asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to order an immediate halt to all military operations in Central Mindanao.

By Gerry Albert Corpuz 
Bulatlat.com  

(Rght) Rep. Satur Ocampo with other leaders of the fact finding mission

DAVAO CITY - Members of the fact finding mission (FFM) who went to Pikit, North Cotabato from Feb. 28 to March 4 to investigate reports of alleged human rights violations committed during recent government offensives against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said over the weekend they will launch a national and international campaign to bring back over 100,000 evacuees to their communities and rebuild their lives.

The fact finding mission, composed of delegates from Bayan Muna (People First), Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights) and Moro-Christian People's Alliance (MCPA) also asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Defense secretary Angelo Reyes to call off military offensives in North Cotabato and the rest of the Central Mindanao provinces against MILF following reports indicating fresh waves of massive evacuation as a result of escalating military operations.

An initial report of the FFM showed that aside from forced evacuations due to indiscriminate bombings and strafing, other cases of human rights violations include the illegal arrest of six persons in Barangay (village) Kidama; the summary execution of five civilians, two of them children in Datu Piang in Maguindanao; the burning of 84 houses in North Cotabato and 77 houses in Sharif Aguak, Maguindanao; and the desecration of religious structures and practices in all affected towns and barangays.

The number of civilians reportedly summarily executed could be higher given that the killing of the five persons took place in just one incident. The death toll does not include those who have died due to displacement, now totaling 12.

Among the cases of human rights violations documented by the FFM were forced evacuations (53 cases), bombings (four cases), summary executions (10 cases) and looting of properties (44 cases). The fact-finding mission will reveal the results of the three-day fact probe in a public forum on March 14 at the Conference Hall of UP Asian Center, Diliman, Quezon City.

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary general of Karapatan, said "The government should stop its crazy war in the South, resume peace talks with the MILF, pull out its troops and allow over 100,000 evacuees to return home and to their farms."

Enriquez said that while the military announced they would allow evacuees to go home, the people were hesitant because of the intimidating presence of heavily-armed soldiers. There were also reports that the military authorities have declared several barangays "no man's land" where people are barred from going back to their communities and farms.

"From what we gathered from interviews, our conclusion was there is a deliberate move by the military to flush out the civilians and prevent them from going back to their communities," Enriquez said.

Data obtained by the fact finding team composed of non-government organizations, church-led human rights groups, medical associations and concerned individuals revealed at least 38,808 individuals or roughly 60 percent of Pikit's population, were displaced during the military offensives last Feb. 11 alone.

Bishop's lament

The Diocese of Kidapawan City, North Cotabato maintains over 100 evacuation centers hosting 15,445 families or 62,195 individuals. Kidapawan's Bishop Romulo Valles told FFM participants there are still thousands of displaced families within and outside the Diocese of Kidapawan.

"The government has declared victory (in the fight against MILF) but the misery of thousands of evacuee-families is ignored in the news," Bishop Valles said. "The truth is, helpless evacuees are still there... silently and bitterly suffering their lot of hunger, thirst, diseases, biting cold nights, uncertainties and deaths."

In a Jan. 20 letter, the Diocese of Kidapawan asked the President and the Armed Forces to give peace a chance in Mindanao following the escalation of military offensives in the south, particularly in North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao.

It said the martial-law type militarization has undermined the peace process and the peace negotiations between government forces and rebel groups in the island. The bishop also said the Diocese of Kidapawan was disturbed by new trends of militarization in the past months including the deployment of several military and para-military units, the massive recruitment of Citizens Armed Force Geographical Units (Cafgus) and civilian volunteers, the forcible recruitment of national minorities for counter-insurgency, the organizing of Tadtad (literally, “chop” or “behead”)and other vigilantes and the forced evacuations of residents and ordinary folks.

Since February, 12 persons, 10 of them children, have died at the height of military operations or while staying in evacuation centers along highways and main roads leading to Pikit town proper.

Karapatan's Enriquez lambasted Macapagal-Arroyo's justification of collateral damage in pursuit of Moro guerrillas and armed criminal groups in North Cotabato and adjacent provinces surrounding the Liguasan Marsh.

"Mrs. Arroyo does not care if her military campaign against the MILF would displace another hundred thousand more, entertain another mass murder of people, burn people's homes and destroy their livelihood for the transnational takeover of Liguasan Marsh," she said.

On March 1, some evacuees went back to Sitio Galingayen, Barangay Makabual, and Pikit. Two days later, soldiers from the 40TH IB burned their homes totaling to 27 houses, community residents said. Previous reports said 77 homes were burned in Sharif Aguak, Maguindanao and 84 houses in North Cotabato.

"We will push for a full-blown congressional inquiry and show the public the necessity of pulling out government troops and allowing the civilians to return to their homes and fix their lives in the name of just and lasting peace and true justice," Enriquez said.

Pentagon gang, just a military ploy

One evacuee interviewed by FFM members said that contrary to claims by the military that they are after the Pentagon Gang, not one member of the group has been seen or heard of in Pikit.

Other evacuees also denied the existence of the Pentagon Gang in their barangays. While they denied the presence of the kidnap-for-ransom gang, the evacuees admitted that it is MILF guerrillas who roam around their communities but they do not engage in criminal activities.

The same sentiment was aired by evacuees coming from as far as Pagalungan, Pagagawan, Datu Paglas and SK Pendatum in Maguindanao; and Tulunan, President Roxas, Carmen, Kabacan and Matalam in North Cotabato and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat.

MCPA also said the people interviewed in evacuation centers as well as peace advocates and church groups denied the existence of Pentagon Gang.

Amirah Ali Lidasan, MCPA secretary general, told Bulatlat.com, "We have hundreds of sworn affidavits taken from the evacuees. They complained about the human rights violations, the inadequate assistance extended to them by the government and dismissed Pentagon Gang as a faceless monster and military hearsay."

Lidasan said the Pentagon Gang is either just a nuisance or a hoax created by the military's psywar or "dirty tricks department" as a pretext for penetrating the MILF territories, scuttling the peace talks and justifying the all-out military offensives.

"Mrs. Arroyo's generals have chosen this make-believe story to sabotage and terminate the GRP-MILF peace talks and proceed with the Washington-directed war against the MILF," the MCPA leader further said. "It has chosen the Pentagon Gang as the faceless monster to be the rallying point to declare war against the Moro people and take an effective control of Liguasan Marsh in preparation for corporate takeover."

Karapatan, meanwhile, said that contrary to military claims, evacuations of residents started months before Feb. 11. Using the pretext of hunting down members of the Pentagon gang, military deployment and operations started in the last week of December 2002, displaced thousands of people from Columbio, Sultan Kudarat and President Roxas and Carmen in North Cotabato and some barangays in Bukidnon, the group said.

Termination of GRP-MILF peace talks?

Karapatan-Southern Mindanao region said no one in his right mind would believe that the massive military build-up, the employment of heavy armaments and the deployment of thousands of government troops were meant to crush Pentagon Gang which until now is a faceless entity as far as the people are concerned.

"Malacañang and the military are going for a giant kill that would crush the MILF and prevent civilians from going back to their communities," Ariel Calisao, Karapatan-SMR secretary general said. "The plan was designed, systematized and executed weeks before AFP's bombing of Pikit."

Calisao said the renewed military offensive against suspected MILF strongholds in Central Mindanao and other ARMM provinces was tantamount to terminating the talks with the MILF.

His assertion came a day after the GRP peace panel offered a set of four talking points with the MILF to resume the stalled talks. Last week the Macapagal-Arroyo government asked the MILF to admit responsibility to the bombings of Napocor power lines, provide safe venue for the continuation of peace talks, the intervention of a third party to the peace talks and the creation of joint monitoring committee that would prevent skirmishes between the two camps during ceasefire.

"Our findings show that the GRP and its military were setting the tone for total collapse of the peace talks with the MILF," Casilao said.

Davao-based Karapatan-SMR earlier conducted a five-day preliminary investigation on reported human rights violations in the course of military operations against alleged MILF lairs in Central Mindanao and ARMM areas.  

"The scope and intensity of military operations, including the number of troops and types of armaments used speak of a well-planned and grand design to terminate the peace talks," he said. Casilao said intensified military operations begun this January in several towns and barangays of Maguindanao, Lanao provinces, North Cotabato, Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat.

FFM to storm House defense committee hearing

Leaders of the Fact Finding Mission (FFM) also expressed their disappointment over what they said is the pro-military bias of House defense committee chair Prospero Pichay Jr. in handling the Pikit probe.

The group said Pichay seemed not to care about the plight of the Pikit evacuees when he went to Buliok Complex last Feb. 27 and toured other members of the House committee on defense about the recent military campaign in Pikit.

Pichay's delegation, according to the group, just flew by Air Force helicopters in Buliok and skirted visiting evacuation centers to check on conditions of Pikit evacuees. He just gave several boxes of medicine to Pikit town mayor.

"Congressman Pichay should have visited thousands of displaced persons in evacuation centers situated along highways and main roads to see the truth from the point of view of the people," organizers of the three-day fact finding mission said.

FFM organizers also said they will launch a national and international campaign to be called "Return to Liguasan" to mobilize humanitarian and legal support for the return of 100,000 civilians uprooted by government offensives in Central Mindanao. Bulatlat.com  

Photos courtesy of Karapatan

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