LUCENA CITY, Philippines-–The new head of the Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) has announced that military troops in the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions will not recognize the so-called “peace zones” or areas that had been unilaterally declared by multisectoral groups as off limits to armed encounters between communist rebels and government forces.

“I do not believe in peace zone[s]. I do not agree with that. We do not want to happen that the so-called peace zone area will eventually become a sanctuary of the NPA [New People's Army],” Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Obaniana, Solcom chief, said during his first press conference with the local media.

Obaniana argued that the NPA was not a legitimate force.

“We are the only legitimate armed forces so there should be no such thing as unilateral declaration of peace zones in any areas wherein we could not go there or the NPA,” he stressed.

“Can they assure us that the NPA will not go there without firearms? Does that mean that once inside the peace zone, we could no longer make arrest? That our hands are tied once we step inside the peace zone?” Obaniana asked.

He cited his experienced with declared peace zones in Mindanao.

“After sometime, that area already became the sanctuary of the NPA, those armed and unarmed communist personalities,” said Obaniana, former chief of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, Wednesday.

Bishop Rolado Tria Tirona, head of the Prelature of Infanta based in northern Quezon, and Church-based multisectoral group Kapatirang Alay sa Kaunlaran ng Bayan or Kaakbay-Quezon, both decried Obaniana’s stand on peace zones.

“I’m sorry to hear that. But he has to understand and respect the people’s deep longing for peace” Tirona said over the phone when sought for his reaction.

The bishop maintained that peace zone is not just the absence of armed conflict in the area but also activities that would promote violence.

“But they are not prohibited to enter the area. They could even go there for their R and R (rest and recreation). They can share and enjoy the community festivities like [the] fiesta,” Tirona said.

In a short statement, Kaakbay-Quezon said: “The people living inside the peace zone areas do not expect both parties [AFP and NPA] to understand the peace zone declaration.”

“What they appeal is for the armed protagonists to respect their sincere desire to live in peace,” said the statement.

In a pastoral letter he issued in March this year, Tirona called on the military and communist rebels to respect the zone of peace declared by the Catholic Church, local government units of Infanta and General Nakar towns and different sectoral groups three years ago.

The local government and residents of Real town in Quezon province have also recently declared their municipality a zone of peace to spare themselves from clashes between government troops and communist rebels.

In December 2005, a weeklong fierce battle between NPA rebels and government turned the Mt. Banahaw area into a war zone, forcing thousands of families from mountain villages to flee out of fear of getting caught in the crossfire.

The running gun battles left more than 20 casualties from the side of the rebels and the military, including civilians caught in the crossfire.

To prevent the repeat of another bloody encounter in Banahaw, Church people, residents of war-torn villages, members of nongovernment organizations and local officials declared the spiritual mountain and all the villages nestling at its base as a peace zone.

Last month, after the military disclosed that a communist guerrilla unit composed of 28 fully armed operatives had been dispatched to reclaim Mt. Banahaw, Kaakbay-Quezon and local officials reiterated their call for both armed groups to respect the peace zone.

Sariaya town Councilor Alex Tolentino said all settlers in mountain villages had now used to peaceful farming, far different from their former terrified past during the height of armed conflict between communist rebels and Army soldiers.

“There’s a real climate of peace in the mountain. Their farm harvest is bountiful. Let us all allow and respect their peaceful existence,” Tolentino said in a phone interview.

LUCENA CITY, Philippines -- The local government and residents of Real town in Quezon province are planning to declare their municipality a “zone of peace” to spare themselves from clashes between government troops and communist rebels, the parish priest said.

“The people of Real and the local government are planning the declaration of [a] ‘peace zone’ even without the consent of both armed groups,” Fr. Osee Molde said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

Molde also urged the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), which represents the rebels in peace negotiations, to hasten the resumption of the talks and the armed forces of both sides to respect the zone of peace.

“We need peace. It is urgent to solve the poverty of our people. Real cannot develop without cessation of hostilities,” Molde said.

Several other communities in Quezon want to be declared peace zones.

Fr. Pete Montallana, environmental activist and chair of Task Force Sierra Madre, said businessmen are afraid to invest because of fear.

“The people in northern Quezon live in constant fear because of the presence of the armed groups,” said the priest.

In 2004, Montallana, an advocate of protection for the Agta tribe of the Sierra Madre, initiated the declaration of peace zones in the towns of Real, Infanta and General Nakar that should be spared from armed hostilities.

He said anxiety and fear have gripped the indigenous people whenever fighting erupts as he stressed that the natives do not sides in the armed conflict.

“Our appeal is for the two combatants to wage their battles outside the area, particularly away from the tribal communities," Montallana said.

Also last year, church people, residents of war-torn villages, members of non-government organizations and local officials declared the communities around Mt. Banahaw in the province’s central part a peace zone.

Mt. Banahaw is a destination for pilgrims who believe it to be a mystical mountain.

However, a local official from Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) late last year refuted the impression that the rebels’ presence has affected business in Quezon.

He noted that the general investment climate in the province continued to remain bullish with the average rate of business registrations now reaching 2,000 annually.

Quezon is widely known to be a stronghold of the New People Army.

Aside from the Bondoc Peninsula, the Polillo-Real-Infanta-General Nakar (PRIN area) in northern Quezon is also considered a hotbed of the insurgency.

Peace talks between the government and the communist guerillas were suspended in 2004 after the rebels demanded that Malacañang move to have them stricken off the terror lists of the European Union and United States.

On Monday, Armed Forces chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon called for a three-year ceasefire to pave the way for the resumption of the peace talks.

But the overture was rejected by communist leaders who called Esperon’s offer “cheap propaganda.”

The rebels countered that they are willing to resuming talks only if the government accepts the NDF's 10-point proposal to accelerate the forging of a peace agreement and truce that the rebel umbrella organization had submitted.

LUCENA CITY, Philippines — Fearful Mt. Banahaw would again become a battleground of the New People’s Army (NPA) and government forces, a non-government organization, an environmental protection advocate and a local official have called on both to respect the tranquility of the mountain many consider sacred.

“Two years ago, the people of Mt. Banahaw declared their place as a peace zone…They have already spoken. All outside forces should respect that and let the prevailing peace remain undisturbed,” Estacio Lim Jr., spokesperson of the Kapatirang Alay sa Kaunlaran ng Bayan or Kaakbay-Quezon, said over the phone.

Citing information from captured NPA guerrillas and intelligence reports, the military disclosed that a 28-man strong communist guerrilla unit has been dispatched to reclaim Mt. Banahaw.

Sariaya town Councilor Alex Tolentino said all settlers in the mountain villages are now engaged in “peaceful farming,” a far cry from their “terrifying” at the height of the armed conflict between communist guerrillas and soldiers.

Inquirer.net

MANILA, Philippines -- Saying it was ready to go to war, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ignored Military Chief General Hermogenes Esperon Jr.'s seven-day ultimatum to yield fighters involved in the killing of 14 Marines in Basilan province last week.

"We are used to that, all out war. We are ready to defend ourselves," MILF chief peace negotiator and public information officer Mohaguer Iqbal told reporters by phone.

Under a ceasefire agreement with the government, Iqbal said the MILF is not required to surrender members accused of violating the truce.

"It is us who should be imposing the punishment for any grave infraction. That is our discretion. The government is signatory to that," he said.

Iqbal maintained that the 14 Marines were killed in a "legitimate encounter" in Tipo-Tipo town last July 10, after they encroached on rebel territory without coordination, in violation of the terms of the truce.

He said the MILF was determined to protect its territory and its forces in Basilan and that any military offensive will be met with resistance.

The MILF, he said, "would like to know" who beheaded and mutilated 10 of the 14 fallen Marines.

The Marines were on their way back to base after an operation to check on reported sightings of kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi when they were attacked.

The incident was viewed by the government, the MILF, and analysts as a boon to the already slow and complicated peace process, plunging relations between the government and the separatist rebels into new lows.

Earlier this week, Esperon gave the MILF a week to surrender its fighters who were involved in the attack on the Marines or face punitive action.

If the MILF would not cooperate with the authorities, Esperon said, the military would exhaust all means to flush out the suspects.

"And so if indeed they will not, then we are still determined to punish those who committed this barbaric and inhuman act," he said.

"This (act) is no longer under the ambit of peace process. As much as possible, we want to follow the mechanics as provided for in the peace process. But on the matter of punishing those who committed the barbaric act, we may not," Esperon said.

But Iqbal said Esperon's warning would not help the peace process.

"We understand that they lost some soldiers,” Iqbal said. “But tough positioning should not be done at the expense of the peace process."

Police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have filed criminal charges against Musawwarin Abubakar, chief of the MILF's 114th Base Command in Basilan, and his men.

Iqbal said it was normal for the police to file charges against suspected criminals but then, this would not force the MILF to hand over Abubakar and his fighters.

Both MILF and government should wait for the results of the investigation of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) led by Malaysia before any action is taken, he said.

Malaysia, which has been mediating the peace talks between the rebels and the Philippine government, has already agreed to send a team from the IMT to Basilan, according to MILF peace panel secretariat chief Jun Mantawil.

"This is a good development because the truth will come out soon. They will determine which party violated the ceasefire that led to that deadly encounter in Basilan," Mantawil said, adding they received the information Thursday.

"We made the proposal for the investigation of international human rights group because we are not sure of the IMT coming to Basilan. Now that they were allowed to go, then this is perfectly alright," Iqbal said.

The MILF, estimated by the military to have 13,000 members with 10,000 firearms, has been fighting for self-rule in the impoverished southern Mindanao region, the homeland of Muslim Filipinos in the overwhelmingly Christian country. With reports from Julie S. Alipala, Edwin Fernandez, Nash Maulana and Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao and The Associated Press

LUCENA CITY—Catholic Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona, head of the Prelature of Infanta, has called on government forces and communist New People’s Army rebels operating in northern Quezon to respect the Zone of Peace declared by the local government units of Infanta, Real and General Nakar towns and different sectoral groups three years ago.

In a pastoral letter to be read in all Catholic churches in northern Quezon this Sunday, Tirona is appealing to armed protagonists to respect human lives.

“Don’t kill. Life is sacred. It is God’s gift to us,” Tirona said in the letter written in Filipino, a copy of which was sent to the Inquirer by Fr. Pete Montallana, coordinator of the Indigenous Peoples’ Apostolate in the Prelature of Infanta and director of the Tribal Center for Development.

Tirona cited the killing of one Alex Ditchoso, a former NPA rebel-turned-government militiaman, by still unidentified suspects last month in the village of San Marcelino, General Nakar.

Reports said the victim was being used by the military in identifying allies of communist rebels in the area.

Tirona also recalled the unsolved slaying of siblings Marilou Sanchez and Virgilio Rubio in the same town last year.

The bishop said the two victims, both members of the militant Bayan Muna, had helped distribute relief goods to typhoon victims in northern Quezon before they were killed by still unidentified assailants.

“During this Lenten season, God is asking every one of us to remember Jesus Christ. He is in the image of our brothers, especially those deprived of justice and peace,” the bishop said in a portion of his pastoral letter.

Respect for the zone of peace, according to Tirona, was also the appeal of local governments, the Church, people and non-government organizations.

The bishop said respect for human rights has been embodied in the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law signed by government representatives and the communist-led National Democratic Front.

“Fear and tension are again beginning to envelop northern Quezon. The Church and all peace-loving people should embrace together and push for the armed groups to respect the zone of peace,” Montallana said over the phone.

Several months ago, propaganda materials labeling Montallana a communist circulated in the towns of Infanta and General Nakar.

According to Montallana, the propaganda materials were signed by the National Alliance for Democracy, an ultra rightist group that allegedly serves as an anti-communist propagandist for the military.

But he just shrugged off the threat and vowed to continue his mission with the Agta tribe and his environmental advocacy.

Executive Order No. 115: Providing For The Mechanics And Operational Structure For The Localization Of Peace Efforts