By MANNY MOGATO
Reuters
MANILA - The Philippines called on Muslim rebels to rein in their members on Friday after some guerrillas refused to heed government orders to leave Catholic farmlands in the south.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) agreed to pull out from villages in North Cotabato province after the government gave them a 24-hour deadline on Thursday and warned they faced a combined military and police offensive if they did not move.
Around 70 out of an estimated 800 rebels have already left and more are going but an undetermined number are refusing to leave, officials say.
"We are presently dealing with a recalcitrant group of MILF which appeared to be disregarding the call of their leaders to vacate certain areas in North Cotabato," said Lieutenant-Colonel Ernesto Torres, a military spokesman.
"We will apply proportionate and justifiable force, whenever necessary, to ensure that laws are upheld and peace is restored in the province."
The government said on Thursday it would take action against what it said was an MILF attack on nine villages in North Cotabato last month.
The country's interior secretary said rebels had torched houses, looted farms and caused more than 6,500 people to abandon their homes and farms, forcing hundreds of farmers in nearby Catholic areas to arm themselves.
The government said some of the farmers had started turning in assault rifles after authorities threatened to arrest them for holding illegal firearms.
The government's ultimatum ratched up tension in the south and came after thousands of Catholics in the south protested against Manila's plans to hand more territory to minority Muslims as part of attempts to end a near 40-year separatist conflict.
Fighting since the late 1960s has killed more than 120,000 people, displaced 2 million and left the most resource-rich region in the country, with large deposts of copper, nickel and gold, dirt poor.
The territorial deal, which was temporarily halted by the Supreme Court this week, was meant to expand an existing six-province homeland for Muslims in the south and give them broad economic and political powers.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will hold elections on Monday to elect a governor, a vice governor and 24 members of a regional legislative assembly.
Around 17,000 soldiers and police have been deployed to guard the elections and two additional infantry battalions will be dispatched this weekend to reinforce security after the military was distracted by the standoff in North Cotabato.