merchant
Number of posts : 83
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Registration date : 2009-02-23
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 Subject: MILF condemns kidnapping, bombing in Sibugay Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:38 pm |
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IPIL, Philippines — On the eve of the 14th commemoration of the 1995 pillage of this town allegedly by Abu Sayyaf militants, a senior official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the province condemned the April 1 bombing of the town’s downtown area and the kidnapping of the three teachers in Naga last March 13.
“We want to assure the public that the MILF, as a revolutionary organization, does not condone criminal acts like the recent bombing of the downtown area of Ipil and the kidnapping of the teachers in Naga," the rebel leader declared.
A homemade bomb exploded dawn of April 1 in front of hardware store in downtown area here — four days before the 14th anniversary of 1995 attack on Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay.
The attack left 53 people dead, 48 others wounded, and most of the town’s commercial building were razed to the ground.
Army Col. Alexander Dicang, commanding officer of the 102 Brigade based in Sanito of this town, said the bomb, which exploded at around 4:10 a.m., damaged the façade of the L & A Construction and Electrical Supplies in downtown Ipil.
No one was reported killed or injured in the explosion.
Dicang said the motive of the bombing is still being investigated by authorities and no group or individual has claimed responsibility so far.
This happened as the military and police continue to conduct operations to rescue the three teachers kidnapped March 13 by armed men while on-board a motorized banca on their way home from Bangkaw-bangkaw Elementary School. The teachers — Noemi Mandi, Jocelyn Inion, and Jocelyn Enriquez — are believed to have been brought by the abductors to Basilan province.
One of the teachers, Noemi, was reported to have died while in captivity due to medical complications from her surgery.
But Chief Supt. Federico Castro, provincial police chief, said the report of the teacher’s death was not true.
The kidnappers, he said, through an emissary assured that “the three teachers are well and alive."
The MILF spokesperson shared the same optimism on the well-being of the kidnapped teachers saying that “we are in high hopes that the victims are alive."
“We are also doing our part to help the provincial government and the police to secure the freedom of the kidnap victims," he stressed.
He added that “it is not the policy of the MILF to terrorize civilians or destroy peace that all of us have worked so hard to achieve."
“The time to build peace is now. Even leaders of big nations have been working to achieve it and there’s no reason why we should not do the same in order to have peace based on justice and equity," Barahama explained.
The powerful European Union (EU) has offered last week to broker the peace negotiation between the government and MILF which has been in tatter after the failed signing of the Memorandum on Ancestral Domain last year.
The rebel leader also called on local journalists to exercise prudence in reporting.
“We are calling to all media practitioners to exercise extra caution in reporting peace-related news like the teachers’ kidnapping and the recent Ipil bombing by reporting it not merely based on hearsays and speculations," he urged.
It is important, he said, that “in our desire to have justice for the kidnap victims we are not violating the rights of other people in the province." - GMANews.TV
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