The vicious anti-Moro war
The US-Estrada regime�s vicious and all-out anti-Moro war continues to infl ict harm on hundreds of thousands of people in Central, Southern and Southwestern Mindanao.
Desperate to crush the Moro people�s revolutionary struggle led by the MILF-BIAF, the Estrada government junked the peace negotiations and deployed more than 50 battalions of military and police combat troops in MILF-BIAF territories.
The rampage of reactionary troops always results in intensifi ed and wanton violations of human rights.
According to reports, from January to the first week of June, no less than 187 civilians have been killed, 25 have been wounded and fi ve have disappeared due to military operations. As of the fi rst week of June, 113,706 families or 598,929 persons have been forced to evacuate due to repeated bombings and violent attacks by reactionary troops. This number does not include those who did not seek shelter in 268 evacuation centers.
Up to 648 homes were destroyed by continuous assaults on communities like Balo-i, Lanao del Norte and Balabagan, Lanao del Sur. Most were burned, strafed or bombed by the AFP, PNP and vigilante groups in pursuit of suspected MILF members and supporters. In some cases, this was perpetrated by the military in non-Moro communities with the blame put on the MILF in order to sow anti-Moro hysteria.
Damage to the people�s property, crops, livestock and livelihood implements runs into the billions of pesos and continues to mount due to the reactionary armed forces� ruthless war.
In cramped and unsanitary evacuation centers where food and water are in short supply, more than 80,000, mostly children, women and the elderly have contracted measles, cholera, stomach and skin disorders, coughs and colds. Twenty-three women suffered miscarriages.
Apart from these violations of international humanitarian law, Estrada illegally orders food blockades. Even food meant for evacuees is confi scated by soldiers who charge that it is material support for the MILF. Military troops also block health and social workers in checkpoints, delaying relief operations in evacuation centers.
In the cities, planting and detonation of bombs by the AFP, PNP and their cohorts so they could blame it on Moros have inflicted damage and terror among ordinary citizens.
On May 28, the PNP led by Gen. Panfi lo Lacson�s PAOCTF illegally arrested 26 Moro men in Barangay Maharlika, Bicutan, Taguig, accusing them of being MILF members and the brains behind the bombings.
In the first week of June, two Moro migrant workers were brutally killed and robbed in Quiapo, Manila by members of the Western Police District. Because of the people�s intense protests, the National Bureau of Investigation could not conceal the facts of the case.
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