SULTAN KUDARAT, Shariff Kabunsuan (MindaNews/29 October) — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Tuesday urged the United Nations to set up an observer post here in the hope that it would prevent an “international humanitarian crisis.” Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs, said the front is worried that continued military offensives against the commanders and members of  three of the 16 MILF base commands will further lead to a massive humanitarian crisis.

“We fear if these military actions won’t stop, we may experience an international humanitarian crisis,” he told reporters at the peace panel’s office in Crossing Simuay here.  

“The UN should step in now before this develops into a kind of problem difficult to resolve,” added Jaafar.

Jaafar said that the UN observer post should be able to look at the situation inside evacuation centers in the conflict-affected areas in Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Lanao.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council reported that as of October 28, there are still  about 75,931  families or 375,86 persons affected by the ongoing offensives. At least half a mlllion persons were displaced by the renewed skirmishes between government forces and the MILF since August.

The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council-ARMM said military operations and encounters between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and MILF continue in the municipalities of Datu Piang, Datu Saudi, Talayan,  and  Mamasapano.

The NDCC had earlier declared the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte and the municipalities of Libungan in Cotabato and Tangkal, Linamon, Kauswagan, Munai, and Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte under a state of calamity.

As of October 22,  RDCC-ARMM said  a total record of 117 barangays were affected by armed conflict in ARMM. To date, eight  municipalities in Maguindanao, four in Shariff Kabunsuan have existing evacuation centers.  

Jaafar said they are seriously alarmed that since operations began in August, there are already about a hundred civilians dead including many small women and children.

“There are ghost towns in Maguindanao particularly Datu Piang, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Mamasapano, Talitay and in the interior areas of Talayan and Guindulungan,” Jaafar said.

Lawyer Lanang Ali, member of the MILF peace panel, said  a UN observer post will also help secure evacuees from arrests or abduction.   

On Monday night, youth groups held a prayer vigil rally at the plaza in neighboring Cotabato City, seeking UN intervention to help resolve Bangsamoro grievances and calling for the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) and the resumption of peace talks between the government and the MILF.  

They also appealed for an end to the killing of innocent civilians and illegal abductions.

The rally was spearheaded by the United Youths for Peace and Development (UNYPAD), host of a three-day summit convened by the Generation Peace, a Manila-based youth organization affiliated with the Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute.

The MOA-AD was initialed by then government peace panel chair Rodolfo Garcia and MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal on July 27 with formal signing scheduled for August 5 in Putrajaya, Malaysia. But a temporary restraining order was issued by the Philippine Supreme Court, preventing Garcia and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo from signing the document.

The government in late August announced it would no longer sign the MOA and dissolved its peace panel on September 3. The Supreme Court on October 14 voted 8-7, declaring the MOA-AD unconstitutional. (Charina Sanz, MindaNews)