MEDIA RELEASE May 4, 2000
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today demanded an immediate and unconditional halt to military operations in Mindanao, blaming the government's total war policy as the culprit in the escalation of violence and bloodshed in the island.
"On humanitarian grounds and for the safety of millions, the massive deployment of military troops and their attacks on Moro communities must stop," BAYAN National Chairperson Rafael Mariano said.
"The US-Estrada regime bears full responsibility for the Mindanao conflagration. Had it not resumed bombing of bombing MILF territories, deployed thousands of military troops and materiel, this would not have happened," Mariano said, referring to the escalation of armed clashes between the two groups and the recent collapse of MILF-GRP peace negotiations.
"This revived all-out war policy by the government has already claimed many lives and destroyed people's livelihood. It is clear that the US-Estrada regime is hell-bent in repeating the US-Marcos dictatorship's vain attempt to quell through a genocidal war the Moro people's resistance to their oppression," said Mariano.
According to reports from Bayan chapters in Mindanao, four major thoroughfares linking Southern, Far South and Central Mindanao have been crippled due to the fighting. Bayan-Kidapawan reported that many people are fearing for the lives and property due to the militarization of their communities and amid clashes between government troops and the MILF.
At the same time, BAYAN joined KARAPATAN-Southern Mindanao in appealing to the Most. Rev. Antonio Franco, the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, to exert pressure on the government to stop military operations in Mindanao as a crucial step in resolving the raging war in the poverty-stricken island.
The appeal was first made yesterday by Dr. Robinson Montalba, S. Th. D., of KARAPATAN-Southern Mindanao who issued an open letter to the Papal Nuncio who is now visiting Mindanao.
Specifically, KARAPATAN-Southern Mindanao asked the Papal Nuncio to: 1) call on the government to stop military offensives and exhaust all peaceful means in resolving the armed conflict; 2) encourage the government to initiate confidence-building measures leading to the resumption of peace negotiations between the government, the MILF and NDFP; 3) ask for the immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners; and 4) demand the government's adherence to international standards of human rights and international humanitarian law.
"Peace prospects are dim under the US-Estrada regime. How can we resolve the problems that spawn armed conflict nationwide when we have a government that counts warring against the people as a workable solution?," Mariano said. ###