Mindanao peace summit eyed

DAVAO CITY - Local government officials in Mindanao are eyeing a summit to address the peace and order situation in the island.

"We consider it (peace summit) very important at this time since there is now a growing problem in the peace and order situation in Mindanao," said Iligan City Mayor Franklin Quijano.

The peace summit, he said, would be participated in by various sectors, including government agencies and private sector representatives.

Quijano said the peace summit comes at a time when government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces are in the midst of heavy hostilities in several towns in Lanao del Norte.

At least 12 more persons reportedly died in the ongoing clashes between the military and the secessionist rebels in the towns of Baloi and Kauswagan in Lanao del Norte.

"We really have to look deeper into the problem of peace and order in Mindanao. And we hope that the summit could produce solutions to the problem," Quijano said.

He added that the Confederation of Governors and Mayors in Mindanao still has to come up with a definite date for the summit.

"We are also thinking of coming up with a joint workshop, also on peace in Mindanao, among us local officials and members of the media," Quijano said.

Aside from the peace summit, Mindanao local officials are also seeking a one-year extension in the June deadline the President has given to the government and MILF panels to reach a political settlement.

They have also sought an overhaul in the composition of the government panel negotiating peace with the rebels. The Mindanao local officials urged that the panel should include a representative from the confederation and that it should also involve more Mindanaoans.

The Mindanao governors and mayors are also set to meet President Estrada next week to present their proposals on how to deal with the peace problem.

"We have already listed some talking points which we could use when we meet with the President," he further said.

Meanwhile, an hour-long running gunbattle between soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels on Thursday in Carmen, North Cotabato, left a soldier, an MILF commander and a follower dead.

Maj. Julieto Ando, civil-military relations chief of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, identified the slain soldier as Cpl. Ronildo Rodriguez of the 27th Infantry Battalion.

Ando said the hostilities erupted when the rebels, who had earlier raided Barangay Tupig in Aleosan town and carted away work animals of hapless villagers in the area, opened fire at the soldiers dispatched to run after them.

Ando said the group's leader, Yuda Kapal and a follower described only as in his early '20s, were killed in the ensuing firefight, which escalated when more MILF rebels from Sitio Lukadang here reinforced their besieged companions.

The soldiers, though outnumbered, managed to fend off the rebels who later fled towards different directions carrying three wounded comrades. - With John Unson