DAVAO CITY –— The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has declared a ceasefire in the village of Ulitan, Ungkaya Pukan, Basilan after the Joint Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) visited the Province Thursday.
In a statement posted by the military’s Western Mindanao Command on Thursday it specifically states a ceasefire has been called and both parties are fixing the miscommunication which resulted to the skirmishes.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (PAPRU), said that his office (OPAPRU) immediately called representatives of both parties “in order to deescalate the situation” and conferred with members of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG).
“We ask for cooperation of our partners from the MILF to stay the course and work together with the ceasefire mechanisms and government forces to uphold the ceasefire agreement which has been a product of arduous efforts from both parties in the interest of the welfare of our people and the preservation of the peace agreement,” the GPH Implementing Panel for the GPH-MILF Peace Accord said in a statement.
B/Gen. Arturo Rojas, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, confirmed that guns were silenced with the intervention of the GPH-MILF CCCH.
Tension gripped the town of Ungkaya Pukan after armed groups entered the MILF terrority with arms which violates the earlier agreement.
In an interview with Col. Cyril Santander, the commander of the 18th Infantry Battalion, he said the soldiers from the 18th and the 64th Infantry Battalions were notified throught the 101st Brigade about the coordination letter from the MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities informing the government troops that members of the MILF would want to return to Barangay Ulitan with their families. The notice was received at 11:00 in the evening but government troops spotted the armed elements as early as 7:00 in the evening of same day.
The sporadic encounters started at around 12:30 dawn of November 8, after a soldier who was stationed at a detachment in Barangay Ulitan, Ungkaya Pukan was slightly hit by a snipper which the soldiers believed to have come from the position of the lawless elements within the MILF terriroty.
On Tuesday, November 8, the 64th Infantry Battalion commander went to Barangay Ulitan with the town’s vice mayor for negotiation and to settle because the agreeemnt was not to bring firearms in the area but they were refused entry by a certain Kumander Huram, Santander said.
On November 9, the military brought logistics for their troops but a snipper hit three soldiers causing their death while a six were wounded. The situation prompted the military run after the bandits which resulted to series of encounters as the governmetn troops ran after the bandits.
As of Thursday, November 10, three (3) soldiers have been killed while 7 others slightly were and are still confined at the military hospital in Zamboanga City.
The skirmishes broke off when the soldiers were running after the lawless elements who were reportedly responsible for the seriesof atrocities in the province of Baslian, including the explosion incidents in the cities of Isabela and Lamitan.
Santander said, “The situation has slowly returned to its normal condition. Generally we are peaceful here and this incident is isolated.”-Editha Z. Caduaya
