No to Vigilante Groups in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines—Church leaders, human rights advocates and defense and police officials Thursday raised the alarm over the resurgence of the Ilaga armed vigilantes, saying is could further fuel animosity and distrust between Muslims and Christians in Mindanao. “I took back during the time of 1970s when vigilantes were used by troops during martial law,” Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato City said, noting that the group was involved in the war against the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Amnesty International, a human rights watchdog, said the country could slip back to the dark period” of martial law when vigilantes attacked civilians with impunity. It reminded the Philippine government that protecting civilians was a duty of its security forces, not of untrained civilian militias.

“I am quite alarmed by the resurgence of such kind of groups,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in Camp Aguinaldo.

Teodoro said having the Ilaga (Visayan for “rat”) launch its own attacks against the MILF while the military was pursuing Ameril Ombra Kato and Abdulla Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, would not “help solve the situation.” The two were identified as leaders of recent MILF attacks on several towns in Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Sarangani.

They called for a ceasefire between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in observance of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan and to defuse the fighting that was threatening to spread among civilians.

10 Moros for every civilian

On Wednesday, the Reform Ilaga Movement, which took off from the Christian group known for its atrocities and human rights abuses in Mindanao nearly 30 years ago, warned in a clandestine press conference held in North Cotabato that it would kill 10 Moro rebels for every civilian life lost in the ongoing clashes between the MILF and government forces.

MILF leaders earlier accused the military of “recreating” the Ilaga
and warned of more hostilities should the national government allow its
existence. “The government created it, therefore it can control it,”
they said.

Police auxiliary units

The Philippine National Police warned the armed civilians against resorting to vigilantism. “They cannot take the law into their own hands,” PNP Director General Avelino Razon said in phone interview.

“It would be better if the Ilaga constitute themselves as members of the police auxiliary units under control of the PNP. That is what we are pushing now,” Razon said.

But Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo Jr., president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said this could escalate the fighting in Mindanao that has already killed dozens of civilians, soldiers and MILF members and displaced tens of thousands of people.

“I think it is not very good for something like that to happen, where there is a possibility of a civilian war,” Quevedo said. He said this kind of war was more “serious” than what was happening in the region because it would be hard to find those responsible for atrocities.

Prayers for conflict victims

Lagdameo said he had ordered prayers for the victims and a “peaceful” resolution to the conflict.

“We offer these prayers as one nation and in solidarity with the Mindanao bishops, as well as with the thousands of innocent people who are forced to evacuate and live in uncertainty and fear,” he said.

“The Philippine government should take responsibility in protecting all civilians in Mindanao, whether they are Christians, Muslims, lumad or coming from any ethnicity or religion,” Aurora Parong, director of Amnesty International’s Philippine section, said in a statement.

“Protecting civilians does not mean arming them … we do not want to return to a period in our country when vigilante groups attacked civilians with impunity,” she said.

Amnesty International urged all parties to go back to the negotiating table and guarantee that innocent lives are preserved. It also objected to the PNP’s move to provide shotguns to “selected, screened and trained” police auxiliaries, deputized village watchmen and civilian volunteer organizations.

Former local officials

North Cotabato Rep. Bernardo Piñol said in a phone interview that former local officials were supporting the Ilaga “and they are capable of arming (the group).” He said he could not divulge their names as he had no clearance from them to do so.

“Civilians are arming only to defend themselves. The Ilagas already involve going on the offensive,” Piñol said.

But North Cotabato Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol said the resurgence of the vigilante group would only complicate the situation.

“I urge you to restrain from reviving the group because it would just worsen the already volatile situation,” he said during his radio program over Notre Dame Broadcasting Corp. in Cotabato City on Wednesday.

He said the provincial board would investigate attempts to revive the group, which became notorious for dismembering its victims. Iligan Mayor Lawrence Cruz said he had blocked attempts to resurrect the vigilante group in his city.

“I don’t want these things to escalate anymore. Let us leave the capture of Kato and Bravo to the police and the Army, we aren’t for the all-out war as well,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.

League of Provinces

Misamis Occidental Gov. Loreto Ocampos, president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, asked governors to discourage the formation of vigilantes in their areas.

“Please advise the Ilaga in your areas to let the Armed Forces and the police do their job,” Ocampos said.

But Lanao del Norte Rep. Vicente Belmonte said the Ilaga “is OK with me if (the people) feel the government cannot protect them anymore.”

“I’m not endorsing them (Ilaga members) but this would not have happened if they felt protected by the government,” he added, referring to his allegation that the military failed to defend the people of Kauswagan and Kolambugan towns in his province from MILF rebels.