Armed Footdragging: The MILF Defies A Deadline

Seventy-two hours have passed since Manila’s ultimatum for the MILF to leave the 9 villages it “forcibly occupied” in the Liguasan Marsh area of Midsayap, North Cotabato.

The combined military and police forces poised to flush out the rebels “have been ordered to hold their fire and exercise maximum restraint.”

But each hour that pases, with the MILF claiming it is unable to complete ‘repositioning’ its forces because they “are being harassed by armed civilian volunteers” is taking its toll on non-combatants: the women and children of Midsayap.

The government’s own National Disaster Coordinating Center is now reporting that up to 80,000 people have fled their homes and are huddled in evacuation centers while their homes and valuables are on the frontline, with just 200 meters separating the MILF and government forces.

With President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo still away at the Beijing Olympics signing or witnessing the conclusion of billions of pesos worth of project or loan agreements, one wonders how long the MILF’s armed footdragging will go on and when the nation’s ‘commander-in-chief will return to Manila.

I guess the Palace will simply say “it is on top of the situation as the president is in constant touch with her military and police commanders through modern communications”