 The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has hailed the replacement of an Army company as the possible reason why there had been no skirmishes for more than a week already, and believed that this may signal soon the return to normalcy in the affected Maguindanao town. "Not a single untoward incident had happened in the strife-ridden capital town of Maguindanao, Shariff Aguak, for the past eight days," said Von Al Haq, chairman of the MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities. Al Haq, quoted in a report Friday in its Internet website, said the "silence in Shariff Aguak can be attributed largely to the replacement of the 64th Infantry Battalion (IB) Bravo Company with the 6th IB Bravo Company on November 22".
On Nov. 22, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon replaced Bravo Company of the 64th IB with about 100 soldiers who have done peacekeeping duties, to Barangay Kuloy, Shariff Aguak, where the Army company was stationed. The International Monitoring Team and Bantay Ceasefire volunteers have complained against the company for being "too confrontational" with the MILF in Kuloy. | Dontcha hate it when armies get confrontational? |
Esperon's move was welcomed by the MILF and Bantay Ceasefire. The MILF has viewed the replacement as having a "clear mandate of purely peace keeping mission and not for combat purposes". If the situation of the absence of gunbattles, Al Haq said this may lead to the return of normalcy in the entire municipality of Shariff Aguak, not only in the flashpoint barangays of Kuloy and Tapikan. | "And we shall have Peace in Our Time." |
Sporadic skirmishes have been reported the past two months before the Army unit was replaced and involved militias loyal to the governor, backed by the Army company, and by the MILF Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Force's 105th Base Command. Some areas had been abandoned by their villagers to escape being caught in the crossfire.
| Whew! All this talk about MILFs and Swapping... I gotta go shoot my gun... |
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