Mindanao conflict escalates
The Philippine government has escalated the war against the
Moro minority and revolutionary groups on the Southern island of Mindanao.
According to Chris Garlan of the Alab-Katipunan peace movement, "the Mindanao problem is not military but poverty."
offensive in the areas controlled by the RPA-ABB, the guerrilla wing of the Revolutionary Workers Party (RWP-P).
According to the Tri-people organisation against disaster (TRIPOD), over 20,000 families have been displaced. The displaced population is coping as best they can. Most brought no food with them, and are now selling their cattle at a very low price, and eating their poultry. Some have found refuge with relatives, who are already in a very tight economic situation. There is no source of livelihood for the refugees in the evacuation centre
The internal refugees have no tents. Some have built rough shelters, but these do not protect them from the sun or the rain. Even the evacuation centres are not safe, with the constant sound of bombings and clashes. The various government and private agencies are virtually ignoring the evacuees. Deployment of military forces
Eighty percent of the country's 350,000 soldiers are now concentrated in the Philippines. There are also 20,000 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on the island.
Since the "integration into civil life" of the MNLF, 7,000 former guerrillas have been integrated into the armed forces, ready to fight their former comrades in the MILF and the revolutionary guerrilla groups.
The island also has ?'.out 47,000 armed members of paramilitary groups, trained in counter-insurgency, and organised in the Citizen Armed Forces and Geographical Unit (CAFGU). This doesn't include the bands of armed vigilantes, which are increasingly present in Mindanao.
There are also a number of ideologically motivated vigilantes, including the Christian Nationalist Front, Tadtad, Adamic, Pulahan, Ituman, Sagrado Corazon de Jesus and Christian Liberation Army, Some of these groups were organised for counterinsurgency during the Marcos years.
In Zamboanga Peninsula another armed group has emerged: the Subanen Liberation Army (SLA) seems to be trained for counter insurgency with an anti-Moro orientation.
There are four networks of death squads, organised by the military intelligence group, the police, the army and local politicians. According to one army source, the military intelligence network is the most dangerous, because of its capacity for secret operations.
Needless to say, the Armed Forces of the Philippines have an overwhelming superiority of firepower-over the rebels. They have 4 OB-10 bombers, 4 MG 520 attack aircraft, 4 Huey helicopter gunships, 4 F5 Fighter jets, and a large number of armoured personnel carriers, 105mm and 81mm howitzers. Their use is internal armed conflict, not for
In 1996, the Armed Forces of the Philippines launched military offensives against the strongholds of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). This offensive was accompanied by the opening of peace negotiations with the group, which seeks self-rule for the indigenous, Muslim population of Mindanao. The army advanced into the peripheries of MILF main camps. (The MILF has 13 major and 33 smaller camps all over Mindanao).
In 1997 the army advanced even further towards the MILF: main camps. Military offensives happened in the MILF camps at Camp Abubakar, Raja Muda, and Camp Omar.
Clashes and skirmishes heightened, while the peace negotiations continued. A Secession of Hostilities agreement was signed, but, later in the year, an armed confrontation near camp Abubakar at Buldon and Barira municipalities resulted to the killing of teachers and students at a Madrasah (Islamic school).
Meanwhile, the government finally signed a peace agreement with the larger Moro National Liberation Front. Mindanao was promised a degree of autonomy, and MNLF leader Nur Misuari became the governor of the Autonomous Region of the Muslims on Mindanao (ARMM).
In 1998, the army intermittently attacked Camp Omar and Camp Rajah Muda. Heavy fire fights took place in these MILF territories which killed and wounded undetermined numbers of government soldiers and rebel comba28 International Viewpoint #309 March 1999 tants. Elsewhere, five major detachments of government troops were overrun by the MILF which resulted to the closure of major national highways.
The heavy fire fights between the two warring armed groups continued to escalate even during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started on December 19.
There was a massive deployment of military forces from the north of the Philippines (4 Army Divisions, Special Operations Groups, Special Forces and other military units, from bases in Luzon and Visayas). They reinforced the government positions around the 13 main MILF camps. This growing encirclement marked a new, higher phase of the military offensive.
By early 1999 the main MILF camps were encircled. Camps Abubakar, Omar and Raja Muda were again shelled with mortars and massive bombings. There was a massive confiscation of MILF arms from their satellite camps and peripheral regions. The skirmishes continue as we go to press.
Since 1996, hundreds of military and MILF forces have been injured and killed. So have many innocent civilians caught in the massive military offensive. The MILF has been on the defensive, but has managed to destroy or capture significant number of APC's and other heavy weapons from government troops.
Thousands of homes and hectares of farmland have been devastated and razed to the ground due to military offensives.
The military has also launched an
international conflict based on the international laws of war. These heavy weapons have been used to crush a number of units of the MILF, NPA and RPA-ABB. The revolutionary groups RPA-ABB. The revolutionary groups have mainly RPG, 81mm mortars and M30 and M60 firearms. The roots of militarisation
In 1997 the Armed Forces of the Philippines began a modernisation programme. This was supposed to include a shift of priorities from internal to external defence. The modernisation budget is 333 billion pesos, almost 45% of the total government budget for 1999
The army justifies this spending by pointing to the external threat from China, and internal threats from the MILE, Maoist NPA and the revolutionary ABB in Mindanao. Resources will inevitably be shifted from external defence to internal operations. The Visiting Forces Agreement
Since the Philippines government is effectually bankrupt, Washington will be sponsoring the modernisation. In exchange, the Philippines will sign a Visiting Forces Agreement, enabling the US to base troops in the country.
American bases were closed after the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship. It has been hard to reverse this decision. The media has done its best to exploit the issue of China's intrusion into Philippines waters [by building on the uninhabited Spratly islands]. But this was not enough to convince Philippine senators to vote the VFA. Hence the escalation of the Mindanao conflict, and claims that the VFA would enable the government to pacify the island.
The USA claims that the VFA will safeguard and secure the Asia Pacific region, and help the Philippines deal with internal and external threats. The VFA would also help safeguard US interests in Mindanao. It would also be a staging post for intervention in Indonesia, the Philippines and across the region.
A base on Mindanao would help advance US and Philippine government interests in the Spratly islands, thought to sit on a large oil deposit. The USA can only access the Spratly oil in alliance with the Philippines government.
This is the background to the recent investment of billions of pesos on the General Santos airport and other installations on Mindanao. The contractors chosen are known for their previous work on US military facilities.
President Erap has also begun preparing a constitutional review which may include allowing foreign access to national resources, and limiting constitutional protection of civil and human rights.
Popular and church opposition will make this a long and difficult process. Erap hopes his recent victories in Mindanao will give him the time he needs. *