'Moro special council no harm to security'

'Moro special council no harm to security'

MANILA (AFP): The creation of a special council led by Moslem insurgents will not compromise the Philippines' national security, defense secretary Renato De Villa said yesterday.

Speaking at a forum in the southern Philippines, transcripts of which were released here, De Villa said "the government will not make any concession nor enter into any compromise that puts our national security or the security of your communities at risk."

He was referring to the agreement reached with the Moslem insurgent Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) for the establishment of a special council, to be led by the MNLF, which would coordinate development projects in 14 provinces and nine cities in the southern Philippines.

The council would pave the way for the creation of a Moslem autonomous region in the area which the Philippines' Moslem minority considers their ancestral homeland.

However the Christian majority in the area has opposed the council, fearing it would put them under MNLF control.

De Villa also said all communities in the area would be under the protection of the military and that their capabilities in the region would not be diminished.

He also said the decision of MNLF chairman Nur Misuari to take part in forthcoming elections for an existing Moslem autonomous region, showed the MNLF's willingness to be governed by the Philippine constitution.

Misuari, who has led the MNLF in nearly 30 years of guerrilla war against the central government in Manila, formally filed his certificate of candidacy for the governorship of the Autonomous Region of Moslem Mindanao (ARMM) in elections scheduled on September 9.

He was also proclaimed as the official candidate of the ruling coalition of Philippine President Fidel Ramos.

The ARMM, which is made up of four provinces, is also included under the area to be governed by the proposed council.

Despite earlier speculation that Misuari would run unopposed, it was reported yesterday that three local opposition politicians had also filed their candidacies to run against Misuari.

The MNLF meanwhile announced yesterday that it was also fielding candidates for the 11 seats of the ARMM council.

Meanwhile, Ramos's chief aide, Executive Secretary Ruben Torres yesterday assured officials in the southern city of Davao that Misuari would not be allowed his usual retinue of heavily- armed bodyguards when he campaigns for the gubernatorial seat of the ARMM.

Torres said Misuari would be provided with police bodyguards and could even select policemen whom he trusts to take the posts.

The government has banned the carrying of firearms in public during election periods but Misuari is known to travel with as many as a hundred heavily-armed MNLF guards.

Torres and De Villa have both been addressing local residents and officials as part of a government campaign to convince more people to accept the council to be headed by Misuari.