General:Ceasefire violated in Zanorte

IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay --- An Army general denied reports that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is “busy deploying troops to strategic locations of Zamboanga del Norte” as par of the preparations when the peace talks will finally collapse.

Brigadier General Jovencio Magalso of the 102 Infantry Brigade based here labeled the reports as “not true”.

The reports published in Luwaran website said the Army soldiers dispatched to Zamboanga del Norte came from Jolo, Sulu were mainly composed of former combatants of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Some 5,000 MNLF fighters were integrated into the AFP after the MNLF and government signed the 1996 GRP-MNLF Final Agreement.

“They are now packing up their things and in a day or two they would be shipped to Zamboanga del Norte, which is now considered a bastion of the MILF,” the Luwaran quoted un-named reporters in Jolo.

The MILF has a sizeable fighting force in Zamboanga del Norte, which is considered by the military as a threat once hostilities start in case the peace talks collapsed completely, a ranking official of Moro Islamic Liberation Front of Zamboanga Sibugay, who requested not to be named, said.

The peace talks between the government and the MILF was stalled again last month over the sensitive issue of territory.

The MILF accused Manila of reneging to its commitment after peace talks was stalled last month in Malaysia, which is brokering the negotiations.
Security analysts warned violence may erupt if the impasse is not resolved.

"There's danger that the ceasefire mechanism would be weakened the longer the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front take to resolve the impasse," Christopher Collier, an analyst at the Australian National University, told foreign correspondents in Manila.

"There have been changes in the tone and language from both sides," he said.

However, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the "attitude of wanting to agree" between the two panels is still high and he is not over the present state of the talks.
"Di pa tapos ang usapan, yan ang status ng peace talks ngayon," Gonzales told the reporters in Davao City last week.

Gonzales said the "bias of both the government and the MILF is towards peace and not war."
"I don't think that war, as an option, is being discussed at all," he said.

The Arroyo administration pursued the peace negotiations with the MILF after the talks bogged down when former president Joseph Estrada ordered an all-out war against the group in 2000. The offensive led to the seizure of dozens of MILF camps, including their headquarters in Camp Abubakar.

In a text message, Magalso said “we are maintaining active defense by conducting security patrols and fired back at the enemy only when fired as we strictly observe the primacy of the peace process”.