SULU, Philippines Sporadic fighting between Philippine troops and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) continued Tuesday in some parts of Mindanao, a rebel leader said.
He added that if the weeklong fighting in North Cotabato escalates to other areas, it will put at risk the peace talks with the Arroyo government.
"If the fighting spread to other areas in Mindanao, then the talks will surely be at risk," Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, told the GMANews.TV.
He said sporadic fighting continued Tuesday in some areas in the towns of Aleosan, Pikit and Midsayap where security forces shelled rebel positions.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from both sides, he said.
Iqbal said the civilians were suffering because of the fighting. "The civilians are drawn into this unnecessary conflict. Many are suffering because of this fighting," he said.
He said that the MILF has ordered its forces to defend themselves from government attacks.
"We are on an offensive position. There is little we can do now because of the continued government offensive against the MILF in North Cotabato. We just hope this (fighting) will soon end," he said.
Philippine military chief Gen. Alexander Yano said the offensive was aimed at driving away rebel forces which occupied more than a dozen villages in the province. "We will not compromise the lives of the civilians residing in the affected areas," he said.
More than 160,000 people were affected by the fighting. Authorities last week had given the rebels a 24-hour ultimatum to vacate the villages they occupied.
Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said rebels have agreed to pull out, but government militias were attacking them, sparking fierce battles in different areas in North Cotabato.
"MILF forces are abiding by orders to reposition, but militias and troops are firing on them," he said.
Army troops, backed by tanks and attack planes, have been deployed in North Cotabato where rebels are holed out, according to Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division.
Ando said rebels were slowly retreating and that troops continue to advance to areas occupied by the MILF fighters. "We want to dislodge them from villages until all the areas are cleared so civilians can return peacefully," he said.
Fighting also erupted in Basilan province, off Zamboanga City on Monday after some 300 rebels occupied the center of Tipo-Tipo town in an attempt to stop the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
More than two dozen people, including soldiers and rebels, were killed and wounded in the fighting, both in North Cotabato and Basilan.
Manila opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 and signed a cease-fire agreement with the country's largest Muslim rebel group. But despite the truce, sporadic fighting still continues in many parts of Mindanao with soldiers and rebels accusing each other of violating the cease-fire.
Peace negotiators last month have reached a deal on the ancestral domain, but the Supreme Court stopped the formal signing of the accord last week that would eventually grant Muslims their own homeland in Mindanao after politicians and lawmakers opposed to the deal filed a petition.
Ancestral domain is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement with the Philippine government.
Presidential peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon said there is need to amend the Constitution to allow plebiscite on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity and give the MILF their own homeland.
Government and MILF peace panels last month also signed an agreement in Kuala Lumpur that will empower the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity to build, develop and maintain its own institutions, inclusive of civil service, electoral, financial and banking, education, legislation, legal, economic, police and internal security force, judicial system and correctional institutions necessary for developing a progressive Muslim society.
The MILF had also wanted the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao postponed until after the peace agreement is signed.
The five-province ARMM is included in the ancestral domain, including some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. And also Palawan Island, off Mindanao.
President Gloria Arroyo has supported a proposal to amend the Constitution and shift to federal form of government to ensure lasting peace in Mindanao. But many fear that President Arroyo or her allies in the House of Representatives might use the peace talks with the MILF as an excuse to amend the Constitution to change the system of government to allow the MILF to have a separate state and eventually prolong her into power beyond 2010.
Under the presidential form of government, Arroyo, who deposed President Joseph Estrada in a people power revolution in 2001, is allowed only one six-year term. In the charter change proposal suggested by her political allies who dominate Congress, she can be elected as prime minister should Congress dissolve the Senate and change the system of government to parliamentary.
The MILF said it will not oppose the proposal to change the form of government as long as THEY get their own homeland.
"Amending the Constitution is solely with the Philippine government, it does not matter to us as long as Muslims will have their own homeland," Iqbal said.
Rep. Liza Maza accused President Arroyo of using the peace talks to change the Constitution and prolong her stay to power.
"The problems in Mindanao are deeply rooted and federalism, especially when it is raised with sinister intentions to entrench oneself further into power, cannot resolve this."
"It cannot even be seen as a step towards the resolution of conflict. Clearly, the call for federalism is meant only to give President Arroyo the much needed opportunity to mess with the Constitution, and assure the extension of her term," Maza said.
She said the fighting in Mindanao will only aggravate the situation of civilians fleeing the hostilities. "Putting on the line the slaughter of communities, deviously invoking
the Bangsamoro's rightful claim to their homeland and the peace process in laying the carefully calculated plan for Charter Change cannot be anything but mass murder and outright treachery," she said. - Al Jacinto, GMANews.TV