GOVT SHOULD RESTORE LAW AND ORDER AND PUNISH CRIMINAL ACTS BUT SHOULD NOT ABANDON PEACE PROCESS

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said the government should exercise its duty to restore law and order and punish criminals in the conflict areas in Mindanao but should not turn its back on the peace process.

Pimentel said that while the present situation has forced the government to suspend the bungled peace negotiation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the first priority of government is to restore law and order and to protect the civilian populace in areas where rebels have struck and gone on a rampage.

"The first thing that the government should do is to restore law and order and maintain control in areas where the sovereignty of the republic is being challenged by armed men," he said.

The senator stressed that the government should by no means tolerate a situation that gives rise to the perception that there is more than one government or armed forces in the country.

Pimentel and other members of the Senate minority bloc have emphasized the primacy of restoring law and order in conflict areas "before taking a pro-active stand to degrade the military capability of the MILF."

In a joint statement, the minority senators said the government must prevent the loss of lives of innocent civilians and government troops who are caught in the spiral of violence now engulfing many areas in Mindanao.

They pledged to support the enactment of a supplemental budget for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to beef up its intelligence capability and supply the military with weapons and equipment necessary to accomplish their mission.

The statement was signed by Senators Pimentel, Benigno Aquino III, Rodolfo Biazon, Panfilo Lacson, M.A. Madrigal, Mar Roxas and Antonio Trillanes.

The minority senators strongly condemned the violence inflicted on the hapless civilians in North Cotabato, Lanao del Sur, Sarangani and other places in Mindanao and called on the MILF to rein its so-called renegade forces which are responsible for the wave of atrocities.

"The MILF leadership, if they are serious about achieving peace in Mindanao, should discipline their ranks and not allow them to wreak havoc on the people of Mindanao," they said.

They called upon the central government to mobilize the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Department of Interior and Local Government and other departments and agencies concerned to extend assistance to the people displaced by the hostilities to avert a humanitarian crisis.

Tens of thousands of innocent civilians have fled from the scenes of conflict but have nowhere to go, the minority senators noted.

Likewise, they demanded that the Arroyo administration should not use the federalism proposal and the peace process as a pretext for its version of Charter Change which only exacerbates the already volatile situation in Mindanao.

Pimentel said while they have repudiated the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain due to grave flaws, it does not mean they are blocking the peace process.

He said they want the government to rectify these flaws through renegotiation where the executive branch will consult with members of Congress, the political leaders and residents and other stakeholders in the peace process in Mindanao in an atmosphere of transparency.

The minority leader also said that those "responsible for unleashing the dogs of war in Mindanao like General Esperon and his ilk should now demonstrate their leadership to show us that there is a reasonable way out of the spiraling violence other than more violence."

"This problem we are now facing in Mindanao is far from being insurmountable. There are solutions within the context of the Constitution that will bring about the peace that we seek," Pimentel said.