On Christmas Eve, seven farmers were gunned down in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat. The military said the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters launched the attacks in retaliation for the deaths of four BIFF members. But another report said the BIFF claimed responsibility for the attacks and pointed to land disputes as the reason.
Land disputes, especially involving marginalized farmers, are not supposed to be settled through murder. But such is the way of the BIFF, whose violence has raised concern about the prospects for peace in Mindanao even if members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front return to the social mainstream. The BIFF has stoked public fears by uploading video on YouTube showing one of its commanders pledging support for the jihadist Islamic State.
The BIFF supposedly opposed the peace process and broke away from the MILF, just as the MILF left the Moro National Liberation Front in protest against the MNLF’s peace negotiations with the government. But the BIFF teamed up with the MILF last January in Mamasapano, Maguindanao to protect two top terrorists from capture, in the process killing 44 elite police Special Action Force commandos.
The massacre in Mamasapano raised questions about the ties between the BIFF and MILF, derailing the peace process with the separatist group. Both groups snubbed a preliminary probe on the massacre conducted by the Department of Justice. Both groups have also ignored public demands made by President Aquino for the turnover of the SAF killers along with the return of the weapons and personal belongings looted from the 44 slain SAF commandos.
The massacre in Mamasapano raised doubts about the sincerity of the MILF in wanting peace. The year is drawing to a close with the fate of the law creating the Bangsamoro still in limbo. Armed attacks launched by the BIFF, especially against impoverished farmers, can only bring more uncertainty to the peace process.