Muslim separatists hail peace deal with RP govt
Muslim separatists hail peace deal with RP govt
MANILA (AFP): Muslim separatist rebels on Saturday hailed a landmark ceasefire signed with the Philippines government, saying it would kick-start desperately needed economic development in the war-ravaged south.
The accord, signed in Libya late Friday, would strengthen "the peace process," said Eid Kabalu, the spokesman for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which has been waging a 23-year armed rebellion seeking an independent Islamic state.
Kabalu said the deal, signed in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, would lead to the "introduction of economic development in Mindanao," the impoverished Muslim southern third of predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines.
However Kabalu said the MILF had not given up its demand for independence, stressing that no "political issues were tackled during the talks."
The deal was brokered over two days under the supervision of Seif al-Islam, who heads a Libyan charity foundation.
It will allow hundreds of thousands of families displaced by the rebellion to return to their homes without fear of getting caught in crossfire.
President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman, Rigoberto Tiglao, said the ceasefire could be a prelude to a final political solution on the Muslim separatist problem.
The 12,500-strong MILF is the country's main Muslim separatist group. It splintered from the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1978, and was left out of a 1996 peace accord between Manila and the MNLF.
A smaller group, the Abu Sayyaf, is holding more than two dozen US and Filipino hostages in southern Basilan province.
In a related development, the media reported on Saturday that the Abu Sayaff had executed two Filipino hostages on the outskirts of the Basilan island capital, Isabela, and left a mocking note for troops hunting them.
Two other headless bodies were also found near the town of Tuburan on the island's north coast, where the guerrillas said they executed American hostage Guillermo Sobero.
The remains near Tuburan were not immediately identified but police said they were also Filipinos.
The bodies dumped in a forested area near Isabela though were identified as Primitivo Falcasantos and Crisanto Suelo, who were among the 26 Filipino and US hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf.
"We recovered this morning the bodies believed to be those of Falcasantos and Suelo," Senior Inspector Jerry Bayabos of the Basilan police said.
He said the rebels late Friday evening also fired a mortar shell at Isabela which landed on a riverbed, causing panic but no damage.
It was believed the explosion was the signal that they had executed the hostages, he said.
President Gloria Arroyo, through her spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao, condemned the killing as part of the Abu Sayyaf's "terror tactics."
"We're sad that the military has confirmed that Primitivo Falcasantos and Crisanto Suelo have been positive identified. This goes to show how brutal and beastly the Abu Sayyaf are," Tiglao told reporters.
As speculation grew in Basilan that more hostages were about to be released, families of the dead men said they believed they were executed because they could not meet ransom demands.
A note written in blood on the shirt of one of the bodies said: "Commander Robot is in Basilan and will chop off heads."
Commander Robot is the alias of Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang who officials said had distanced himself from the latest kidnappings and had offered to surrender if given a fair trial.
Andang, believed to be based with another Abu Sayyaf unit on nearby Jolo island, masterminded a similar hostage crisis last year involving dozens of foreign and local hostages later ransomed off for millions of dollars.
Falcasantos's sister, Norma Baguio, told AFP she suspected her brother was sacrificed because he had no money. She said the private security guard had not been paid for seven months by his employers and could not meet a ransom demand.
"Why did they kill them? Is is because we're just poor and can't give ransom?" a weeping Baguio said.
She said the family had received no help from her brother's employer, nor from the national or local governments.
"It seems the government is neglecting our plight," Baguio said
There has been no engagement between troops and the rebels since last week, raising speculation the lull was intentional to allow families of hostages to negotiate a deal despite Manila's strict "no-ransom policy."