Constant War, Sporadic Peace
by: Fr. Roberto C. Layson, OMI

I thought the guns would finally be silent here in Pikit. For the last several months, there was relative peace in this town. There were no skirmishes between government troops and MILF forces. The 105mm mortars stationed at fort Pikit were quiet. Criminalities at the marketplace have dramatically reduced. No more reports of cuttle rustling in remote barangays. The people begun to feel safe, not just physically but also emotionally and psychologically.

During the patronal fiesta of the Immaculate Concepcion last December 8, Muslims and Christians ate together in the same parish compound. Mayor Farida Malingco also came. It looked like our peace-building efforts were gaining some breakthroughs.

Last Christmas, people stayed on the streets till the wee hours of the evening. The adults went to the  Peryahan fat the plaza. The children went around caroling. On some spots under the electric post, you see kids squatting in circle and dividing the coins among theme selves. The church was filled up with people during the misa de gallo masses. It was the best Christmas celebration I have experience in Pikit. For the first time, the people of Pikit were proud of their town.

Until one day, we woke up to live with the reality of another war. The peace that we have cherished for several months had abruptly ended. Till midnight on February 8, with the vice-mayor, we were still hauling civilians from the interior of Liguasan Marsh who have fled their villages from the impending assault of government troops. It was dark and suspiciously quiet. But we could sense danger lurking in darkness and in the stillness of the night.

As we drove through the lonely road, I could not help but cry when I saw people sleeping at the roadside. Some on their sledges. Some under the trees. Many on the grass. They did not make it to the poblacion because of exhaustion and they decided to postpone their journeyto the evacuation centers for at least one night. We passed by at a group of about twenty people. They were sleeping on the grass at the roadside under an open sky. They were mostly children, women and elderly. The children have their heads wrapped with a piece of cloth to protect them
from cold. We woke them up. The children begun to cry. They climbed the dump trucks and we rushed them to the poblacion where they joined thousands of evacuees who have earlier that day fled their homes.

Thirty nine thousand civilians were displaced by this war.

I have been in Pikit for almost five years and a half now. And in this short span of time I have experienced four major armed confrontations between government troops and MILF forces. In 1997, thirty thousand civilians were displaced. During the all- out ?war in 2000, forty-one thousand civilians were displaced. In 2001, twenty-four thousand civilians were displaced. And today, 2003, thirty-nine thousand civilians were again displaced.

The same barangays were affected. The same people were displaced. It is the same faces of children, mothers and elderly that I see in the evacuation centers again. Their faces have become familiar to me now. Every time I see faces of old people, I remember the face of my mother who is seventy-six years old. For the elderly who could even hardly walk because of old age, they dont deserve anymore to experience this hardship. In the twilight of their life on earth, they should be sitting quietly in one corner of their home or playing and telling stories to their
grandchildren. But I wonder what kind of stories stored in their memory. I wonder what stories they could tell to their grandchildren.

When I saw the massive military build-up in Liguasan Marsh on February 8, I immediately called up our network of peace advocates in Manila hoping that they could do something to change the situation on the ground. In my mind, the assault of Buliok complex would require a political decision and not just a military dicision,as it would affect the already fragile status of the peace process.

I was informed that a meeting of the joint Ceasefire Committee was to transpire on February 12 in Cotabato City. When the guns did not fire on February on February 10, I thought a political decision had been made to prevent a shooting war to take place in Pikit. I felt a sigh of relief. I told our friends in Manila that I wished and prayed that the guns would be silent forever.

But I was wrong in hoping. The following day, on the Muslim feast of Eidol Adha, the day of sacrifice ,gun bursts were heard in barangay Bulol. The war had started. It was February 11, one day before the meeting of the joint Ceasefire Committee that was supposed to peacefully resolve whatever issues the military had against the MILF. On February 12, the day of the scheduled meeting, the MILF pulled out from the talks saying it was useless as it had been overran by events on the ground.

Everybody asked me who started the first fire that triggered the war. The military accused the MILF for pulling the trigger first. On the other hand, the MILF accused the military of starting the first fire. As usual, no body would like to claim any responsibility for triggering a war that has displaced thousands of civilians. All I can say, however, is that this war was very well planned given the massive military build up days before and troop re-enforcements that came as far as Jolo.

After five days of intense ground and air assaults that included mortar shellings, and bomb
droppings, the government raised the flag in Kabasalan and declared a victory. It is true. The government has achieved its military objective by running over Buliok complex, an enclave of the MILF. But how can the president say that this is a victory for the government when this military assault just displaced thirty-nine thousand civilians?

There are two wars going on right now in Pikit. One is a war that is still going on between government troops and MILF forces. Another was is taking place inside thirty evacuation centers. It is a daily war being fought by evacuees fighting for their own survival. As I right this, nine evacuees have already succumbed to death despite the best efforts of government line agencies and NGOs.

Is this the victory the government is claiming and proud of? If it truly is, then my heart bleeds because the government has shown that it has no compassion at all for its own people. My heart bleeds as well for the ordinary soldiers and revels who were forced to wage this war, a war that could have been easily prevented had our political and military leaders did not play gods over the destiny of Mindanao.

I met Abdul again in the evacuation center. After the 2000 all-out-war, we conducted psychosocial activities to traumatized children in barangay Bulol. This was in September to November,2001. Abdul was one of the kids. The mother said that they were in a hurry to flee their village on board a small banca when a mortal shell landed nearby. The boy fell on the river. He has found later. Abdul was saved. But his life has changed. He would put mud into his mouth. Black shades covered his eyes. At that time I met him he could still baby-speak. Then, the military conducted hot pursuit operation against suspected kidnappers believed to be hiding in barangay Bulol. Abdul and all the children were back in the evacuation centers again. That was on November 16, 2001 the first day of the holy month of Ramadhan.

Barely after one year, again Abdul is back in the evacuation center. He and his family are staying at the parish gym along with other 116 Muslim and Christian families who had to leave their homes because of this war. His health has deteriorated since I last saw him. The black shades still cover his eyes. But he could no longer see. And he could no longer speak. And he could not even run now. The drowning caused damaged to his brain. Every time I see him lying on the floor of the gymnasium like a lifeless form, I cry inside and feel angry. Abdul is robbed permanently of his future. He is denied of growing normally like other young boys of his age. Abdul is only twelve years old.

Why this war all over again? I could not understand. Why must our lives be always disrupted by wars? What have we done to deserve this fate? What has the government done to prevent the escalation of violence?

On June 24, 2001 in Libya, both the government and the MILF signed an agreement on the Security Aspect that adopted the 1997 Ceasefire Agreement. Both declared to silence the guns. They were seemingly determined to solve their problem at the negotiating table rather than in the battlefields. Then, on August 7, 2001 in Malaysia, they signed the Implementing Guidelines on the Cessation of Hostilities. This document identified what are ehostile acts of and provocative acts. They also decided to form the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities or CCCH that would handle problems of violations on the ground. They also created the Local Monitoring Team or LMT composed of local officials and their MILF counterpart plus one religious leader who would monitor ceasefire violations.

But then, the guns were still not silent. The pentagon Gang, a kidnapping syndicate operating in Central Mindanao was tagged as an irritant in the Peace Process. Both traded accusations. The military said the pentagon Gang is a creation of the MILF being used for their fund-raising activities especially after the all-out-war. On the other hand, the MILF said the pentagon Gang is a creation of the military being used to penetrate their territories in the guise of running after criminal elements. In any case, both  agreed that the activities of these criminal groups impede the Peace Process, the effective pursuit of development programs, and the efficient delivery of basic services to the poor.

And so, to settle this issue once and for all, both the GRP and MILF panels signed a joint Communiqu・in Malaysia on May 6, 2002. They both agreed to form an Ad Hoc Joint Action Group against criminal elements and also agreed to enhance their communications and working relations for the successful apprehension or capture of criminal elements. On May 7,
The following day, they likewise signed an agreement on Relief, Rehabilitation and Development of of affected communities destroyed by the all-out-war.

With all those interim agreements, we were made to believe that both the government and the MILF were sincere in pursuing the path to peace and that they have decided to solved their problems in the negotiating table and not in the battlefields. Now, the complete opposite is what we are seeing here in Pikit. Deliberately disregarding the Ceasefire Agreement that both have signed in public, government troops and MILF forces are now shooting at each other in the battlefields sending 39,000 civilians languishing in evacuation centers.

This war has no basis at all. The peace talks are going on. There is a ceasefire agreement. The mechanisms to avert war are in place. I don’t understand why this war has to happen again. What has gone wrong? We feel deceived and betrayed. This war that affected 39,000 civilians show that both the government troops and MILF failed the people. And I hold this government more accountable for the suffering of our civilians because, as a state, it is in a moral high ground to exhaust all peaceful means to prevent war for the sake of its citizenry.

We, in Pikit, have enough of wars. Our people have suffered enough. This government must show that it has compassion for its own people. It must prove that it cares for its citizens whose lives have been wreaked and their families disintegrated over and over again. Where do our people go when the very government that is supposed to protect theme is crushing the remaining inch of hope left in their hearts?
1997.200.2001.2003.In the span of five years and a half, the people of Pikit have experienced constant war and sporadic peace. When will the government give us a change to really rebuild our lives? When will the government give us a change to dream and make our dream come true?

Please give the people of Pikit at least five years of Peace.

23 February 2003
Pikit, Cotabato

An Appeal for in the Spate of bombings that have
Rocked Marble, Awang and Kabakan
[February 22,2003]

Bilang isang religious leader, kinokundena ko ang mga pambobomba na naganap nitong mga nakaraang araw sa bayan ng kabacan, Cotabato at Marbel na kung saan ang mga ordinaryong sibilyan na walang kasalanan at walang kasalanan at walang kinalaman sa kaguluhan na nagaganap ngayon ang siyang naging biktima ng mga bgong karahasan na ito. Sila ay mga inosenting mamamayan lamang na nagsisikap para buhayin ang kanilang mga pamilya. Kaya’t umapila ako at nakikiusap, bilang sibilyan na rin, sa kung sino man ang nasa likod ng mga karahasan na ito kung maaari ito ay tigilan na at huwag natin idamay pa ang mga ordinaryong sibilyan na ngayon ay hirap na hirap na. Masyado ng naghihirap ang mga sibilyan. Huwag na
Natin dagdagan pa. Huwag na natin palakihin pa ang gulo na ito. Sana ating ipairal ang awa sa mga sibilyan ayon sa awa na pinakita sa atin ng Diyos.
At sa lahat na mga sibilyan, Kristiyano, Muslim at Lumad, sana huwag na tayong sumali sa gulo pang ito. Hindi tayo magkaaway. Hindi tayo ang nag-aaway at hindi tayo ang dapat mag-away. Huwag natin saktan ang bawat isa dahil tayong lahat ay magkakapatid. Iisa ang ating Diyos at wala ng iba pa. Hindi tayo ang gumawa ng gulo na ito. Ni minsan hindi natin pinangarap na magkagulo muli dito sa ating lugar. Tayong lahat ay biktima lamang ng gulo na hindi natin ginusto. Kaya’t, mabuti siguro magtulungan na lang tayong lahat at patuloy na manalangin sa Diyos na titigil na ang mga karahasan na ito at sana magkaroon na ng solusyon ang ating problema sa Mindanao sa pamamagitan ng mapayapang pag-uusap at hindi sa pamagitan ng baril at dahas.
Sana ang apila na ito ay umabot sa puso ng may kagagawan sa likod ng mga bagong karahasan na kung saan ang mga sibilyan ang nasasaktan. Nag Diyos nawa ay patuloy na maawa sa ating lahat sa kabila ng ating mga pagkukulang sa bawat isa at sa Kanya.

(The sataement was read in full by Fr. Roberto C. Layson, OMI over DXMS and DXND.)

Immaculate Conception Parish
Pikit, Cotabato