A signal from the South<\/p>\n
President of the Philippines Fidel Ramos has said that the
\nMoslem guerrilla group under the leadership of Abu Sayyaf is
\nresponsible for the rampage in the southern town of Ipil on
\nTuesday in which the police chief and the military commander were
\nkilled, and banks were looted and the town's commercial center
\nwas burned.<\/p>\n
If Ramos's statement is true, the lunch-time raid is not just
\nbanditry as other authorities in Manila had tried to portray it,
\nbut an effort by Abu Sayyaf's organization, the most feared
\nguerrilla group, to draw the world's attention to the fact that
\nit is still capable of doing something brutal to derail the peace
\nefforts between the Ramos administration and the Moro National
\nLiberation Front, the largest and oldest rebel group.<\/p>\n
The delegations of the Philippine government and the Front
\nhave agreed to meet again in Jakarta in June to follow up on
\ntheir peace talks here last September. Last year the two parties,
\nwho met under the auspices of the Organization of the Islamic
\nConference with Indonesia as both mediator and host, managed to
\neliminate many hurdles, but left the problem of the formation of
\na provisional government for the autonomous territory of the
\nFilipino Moslems, known as Moro, for further meetings. Abu Sayyaf
\nhad not only refused to join the peace process, but appeared to
\nwant the peace train halted altogether.<\/p>\n
We believe the ruthless attack on Ipil, the town of 150,000
\npeople, was not only meant to derail the peace train, but also to
\nurge the world to check to see whether the authorities in Manila
\nhave done adequate enough to improve the lot of the five million
\nMoslems who live on Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan islands. Reports
\ncoming from the country have said \"no\".<\/p>\n
Reports also say that although the economic development has
\nbeen quite successful in the south, Moslems have shared very
\nlittle of the national pie.<\/p>\n
Ramos is, of course, not alone in the blame. The Moros have
\nbeen suffering since the administration of president Ferdinand
\nMarcos. Under his successor, Corazon Aquino, the Moros were not
\nmuch happier because they complained that the what had been given
\nto them by Marcos was taken back by Aquino.<\/p>\n
Now President Ramos, who claims that he understands the
\nMoslems better and has a lot of friends in the South, should be
\ndoing more to redress the imbalance and injustice in this
\nparticular part of the Philippines, rather than just taking part
\nin the peace process.<\/p>\n
With the ugly reality still there -- for God knows how much
\nlonger -- the guerrillas might not stop at Ipil. Especially when
\nthe army seems shamefully impotent, without the capability of
\nanticipating such a brutal guerrilla assault.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-signal-from-the-south-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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