March 4, 2001, The Philippine Star, Convoy of docs, soldiers attacked; 6 Marines hurt, by John Unson and Edith Regalado,

March 4, 2001, The Philippine Star, Convoy of docs, soldiers attacked; 6 Marines hurt, by John Unson and Edith Regalado,

COTABATO CITY -- Six Marines were wounded, two of them critically, when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels ambushed a convoy of doctors and soldiers on their way to an outreach health mission in Barira, Maguindanao yesterday.

The Barira incident was the ninth MILF attack in Central Mindanao since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a unilateral ceasefire.

Citing initial feedback, Col. Tereso Badayos, a senior staffer of the 2nd Marine Brigade, identified two of the wounded Marines as 1Lt. Elpidio Factor and a certain Pfc. Canto, both belonging to the 3rd Marine Brigade based in Parang, Maguindanao.

The ambush occurred as MILF leaders asked for more time to respond to the Arroyo government's twin peace initiatives: the declaration of a unilateral ceasefire and the withdrawal of charges against MILF chief Hashim Salamat and his officers for the Dec. 30 bombings in Metro Manila.

"You cannot expect the MILF to respond too soon. The MILF has been badly wounded by the massive offensive the military launched last year under the Estrada administration," said Moner Bajunaid, head of the separatist group's technical committee.

Bajunaid added: "Like the ceasefire, we are watching the movements of the Armed Forces on the ground if the unilateral SOMO (suspension of military operations) is really being implemented."

Meanwhile, Badayos said the soldiers and medical practitioners were supposedly scheduled to conduct a civic action in a secluded community in Barira, a critical town not far away from Camp Abubakar, the MILF's main enclave which the military seized last year.

Badayos said the rebels, positioned on both sides of a farm-to-market road in Barangay Kamis, opened fire on the convoy, provoking a running gunbattle.

Since last week, all three Marine brigades in Central Mindanao have been performing medical and dental missions in remote areas, serving impoverished Muslim communities affected by last year’s hostilities between government and separatist forces.

So far, 3,679 Muslims afflicted with various ailments, including tuberculosis, have been treated in medical missions in Kapatagan, Lanao del Sur; and in Matanog, Parang and Datu Odin Sinsuat towns in Maguindanao.

Badayos said yesterday's ambush prompted the 3rd Marine Brigade to suspend its outreach mission in Barira, until local Marine units have cleared the area of marauding MILF rebels.

Badayos said the convoy's escorts managed to fight back, driving their attackers to a densely forested hill.

Village officials in Kamis confirmed that three of the ambushers were killed, identifying them as a certain Sukarno, Banisil and Titingan.

Badayos said the Marines have embarked on the outreach missions to show the government's sincerity in reviving the peace negotiations with the MILF.

Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division here, said the MILF ambush in Barira was a total disregard of President Arroyo's ceasefire declaration.