‘War it will be.
There lies the method in the Palace’s seeming madness.’
What the hell is going on?
At the Supreme Court hearing yesterday on the petition to
permanently stop the government from signing the memorandum agreement on
ancestral domain with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, chief government
negotiator Rodolfo Garcia said he had no authority from President Arroyo to sign
an agreement on behalf of the government.
All he had, he said, was his original authority to negotiate.
What was he doing then in Kuala Lumpur for the scheduled
signing ceremony on August 5 (the signing was TROed by the Supreme Court on
August 4)? The Malaysian hosts had prepared an elaborate stage where Garcia and
his MILF counterparts were supposed to sign the document. Set to stand as
witnesses were a Malaysian cabinet official, representatives of the Organization
of Islamic Conference and ambassadors of a number of Islamic countries. Even US
Ambassador Kristie Kenney was there for what was touted as a "historic"
milestone in the march toward lasting peace in Mindanao.
Garcia’s admission before the Supreme Court justices
strengthens suspicion that the government was stringing the MILF, Malaysia, the
international Islamic community and the Unites States all along.
The government, in effect, entered into commitments it could
not keep because of an expected backlash from the Christian community in
Mindanao, not to speak of the nationwide sentiment that the provisions of the
agreement would lead to the dismembering of the Republic.
What then was the aim of the elaborate charade? Apparently to
provoke the MILF into going back to war as what is happening now
At the moment, the MILF is disowning the attacks mounted by
commanders Kato and Bravo. Kato’s and Bravo’s men have, in fact, withdrawn from
the barangays in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte that they had occupied.
The military nonetheless has been reporting "heavy
engagements" as its forces mount pursuit operations against the rebels. Oddly
enough, Camp Aguinaldo could not–or would not? – pinpoint where these purported
"heavy engagements" are taking place.
It claims it has inflicted "heavy casualties" on the rebels.
When asked for the basis of such claims, it points to ground commanders whose
assessments were based on the destruction observed to have been caused by
artillery bombardment and aerial bombings of rebel positions in Maguindanao.
The targets clearly are MILF camps or, in the language of the
military, "areas of temporary stay" which are off-limits to government forces
under the terms of the cease-fire agreement. And not even by ground troops in
eyeball-to-eyeball engagements but invulnerable warplanes and long-distance
artillery pieces.
The MILF leadership continues to maintain the fiction (if it
is indeed a fiction) that Kato and Bravo were defying the former’s instructions
while insisting it is committed to maintaining the cease-fire.
What’s the excuse of the government for bombing MILF camps
(which by they way host many non-combatants) in violation of the cease-fire
agreement?
Hot pursuit? It doesn’t wash because Kato’s and Bravo’s men
even if they are indeed in full retreat as claimed by the military are a long
way off from their erstwhile staging grounds.
The cease-fire is as good as over. We expect the MILF to
formally declare any day now an end to the truce.
War it will be. There lies the method in the Palace’s seeming
madness.
Of course, nobody is discounting the probability that Garcia indeed had
authority to sign, but has been designated as the fall guy to save his boss from
embarrassment or impeachment.
