Disarm Christian vigilantes: Fidel Ramos<\/p>\n
MANILA (Agencies): President Fidel Ramos yesterday ordered the
\narmed forces and police to disarm Christian vigilantes in the
\nsouthern Philippines who have vowed to fight a peace deal between
\nManila and Moro rebels.<\/p>\n
Ramos said in a directive that \"more forceful measures\" must
\nbe applied if the group resisted government attempts to persuade
\nthem to give up their weapons, a Presidential Palace statement
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Remove the threat, preserve peace and order,\" Ramos said in a
\nhandwritten note to the military and the police.<\/p>\n
Ramos's order was the first official admission that the group,
\nwhich the military earlier dismissed as an insignificant force,
\nposed a possible security problem for the government.<\/p>\n
About 35 vigilantes showed reporters an array of weaponry,
\nranging from assault rifles to machine guns and grenade
\nlaunchers, during a clandestine interview outside Zamboanga city
\nin the southern Mindanao region last week.<\/p>\n
Local officials said the group, which calls itself the
\nMindanao Christian Unified Command, had an armed following of
\nabout 3,000 men.<\/p>\n
Newspaper reports, quoting some of the group's \"commanders,\"
\nsaid they numbered about 10,000 and included former soldiers and
\nex-policemen.<\/p>\n
An army spokesman earlier downplayed reports about the group,
\nsaying the military could easily neutralize them.<\/p>\n
Mindanao Christians have fiercely opposed the peace accord
\nbetween the government and the Moro National Liberation Front
\n(MNLF), and have accused Manila of a sell-out.<\/p>\n
The deal, signed in Manila last week, calls for the
\nestablishment of an administrative council to be led by MNLF
\nchief Nur Misuari to supervise development in 14 southern
\nprovinces, most of them dominated by Christians.<\/p>\n
The council is to be the precursor to a regional autonomous
\ngovernment to be composed of the 14 provinces that would vote in
\na plebiscite to join it.<\/p>\n
Although the country's five million Moslem minority regard the
\narea as their ancestral homeland, they are outnumbered 3-to-1 in
\nthe area by Christian settlers.<\/p>\n
Part of the peace deal calls for Misuari to head a semi-
\nautonomous region comprising four Moslem provinces.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Misuari, a former university professor, won most of
\nthe votes so far counted in uncontested elections for the
\nregional governor.<\/p>\n
Misuari had received 121,492 votes, or 83 percent, with 21
\npercent cent of the ballots tallied, said the National Movement
\nfor Free Elections (NAMFREL).<\/p>\n
The votes were cast in the four-province Autonomous Region for
\nMoslem Mindanao (ARMM) which held elections on Monday.<\/p>\n
The elections also marked the Philippines' first attempt at
\ncomputerized polls but \"kinks in the system\" slowed down the
\ncounting ballots, election officials said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Regalado Maambong of the Commission on Elections
\n(Comelec) said in a radio interview from the southern city of
\nCotabato that he did not think it could count 150 ballots per
\nminute as earlier thought.<\/p>\n
\"As of last night, the machine was counting 100 ballots per
\nminute,\" he said, adding \"there are some kinks in the system that
\nwe are trying to solve.\"<\/p>\n
However, he said the system was faster than manual tally, of
\n30 ballots each hour.<\/p>\n
Maambong expressed concern that humidity from heavy rain that
\nhad been falling in the south and heat from the lights of
\ntelevision crews filming the automated system would affect the
\nmachines.<\/p>\n
\"Our impression is the people like the new voting system very
\nmuch,\" Maambong said.<\/p>",
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