June 13, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Army says 10 MILF camps have fallen, by Carolyn O. Arguillas, Edwin O. Fernandez and Jowel F. Canuday,

June 13, 2000, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Army says 10 MILF camps have fallen, by Carolyn O. Arguillas, Edwin O. Fernandez and Jowel F. Canuday,

DAVAO CITY--Ten Moro rebel camps down, 36 more to go? Another Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camp in Maguindanao fell to government troops Saturday, bringing to 10 the number of camps captured by the military from the MILF since March, a military spokesperson said.

The MILF had claimed having 46 camps in Mindanao and Palawan, including 13 ''major'' ones. The military raised the Philippine flag at 3:30 p.m. inside Camp Mohammad Al Fateh, according to Maj. Julieto Ando, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson.

In Manila, however, Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. said the government was no longer undertaking any major military offensive in Mindanao and that reports of conflict there related only to ''defensive operations.'' Puno said ''active'' military operations had been stopped since the clearing of the Narciso Ramos Highway and the capture of satellite rebel camps outside the MILF's main base, Camp Abubakar.

After yesterday's daylong battle that left one rebel dead and one soldier wounded, Camp Mohammad Al Fateh, reportedly a major camp of the MILF's 102nd Brigade, of its 1st Field Division, which is based in Barangay Calean in Buluan, fell to government forces.

Other MILF camps earlier captured by the military are Bilal and John Mack in Lanao del Norte; Bushra and Ali in Lanao del Sur; and Sarmiento, Omar, Darapanan, Sampaguita and Limbalod in Maguindanao. Bilal, Bushra, John Mack, Sarmiento, Omar, Darapanan and Limbalod are among the major MILF camps while the rest are satellite camps.

Correction

The military has destroyed the rebel bases to ''correct'' what it said was a mistake committed when the former government peace panel chair, Orlando Soriano, signed a document ''acknowledging'' these camps as MILF territory. Abubakar and Bushra were ''acknowledged'' by the government pursuant to the ''Implementing Administrative Guidelines of the GRP-MILF Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities'' which it signed on Sept. 12, 1997.

The government also recognized seven other camps. Under the guidelines, the scope of the ceasefire then was to include ''the provinces, cities and other places in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan.'' But the document also provided that ''to ensure proper coordination, the location of MILF camps/positions shall be verified and determined jointly and agreed upon by both (ceasefire committees).''

In destroying the MILF camps, however, the government mistakenly acknowledged ''camps'' not on the MILF list of 46 camps, like ''Camp Sarmiento'' in Matanog town and ''Camp Sampaguita'' in Sultan Kudarat town, both in Maguindanao.

Sarmiento is actually part of Abubakar. It was named after the logging concessionaire that once operated there. A barangay called Sarmiento exists near the boundary of Cotabato City and Parang town, at least 25 kilometers from the camp.

Air support

Backed by armored personnel carriers and artillery, soldiers under Maj. Menardo Geslani, chief of the 57th Infantry Battalion, stormed Mohammad Al Fateh starting 6 a.m. Saturday after rebels harassed the military's detachments in Calean, wounding an unidentified soldier, Ando said. Two OV-10 bombers provided air support to some 800 ground troops, Geslani said in a report to Maj. Gen. Gregorio Camiling, 6th ID chief.

The rebels, under a certain Commander Abbas, tried to defend their camp, using 81-mm and 60-mm mortars and M-50 machine guns, Geslani said. But the daylong heavy artillery attack and air strikes forced some 500 rebels to flee, leaving one dead in one of the camp's 28 bunkers.

Ando said the troops also found more trenches, fortified barricades and foxholes, communication equipment and documents. Until its bombing, Sarmiento, some 3 km from the Narciso Ramos Highway, was the main checkpoint of Abubakar. Vehicles had to stop there to enable visitors to register. As Abubakar was a ''no-smoking'' zone, visitors who smoke had to stub out their last cigarette sticks at the checkpoint.

Immediately beyond the checkpoint used to stand eateries on the left side of the road and on the right, tailoring shops, a number of them selling MILF uniforms, and houses of non-combatants.

Rose garden

Farther beyond was a mosque with a rose garden behind it. Almost behind the mosque, portions of which had been bombed but for its minaret, is the office and residence of MILF military chief Al Haj Murad. Rows of banderas españolas of various colors lined the area.

The administrative office stood nearby, by the roadside. It was also in Sarmiento where MILF members taking up masteral courses in education and public administration gathered every Saturday for the extension classes of the Cotabato State Polytechnic College.

The road to Salamat's territory, about 7 kilometers from Sarmiento, used to be bumpy and many parts were impassable especially during heavy rains. By April 15, when the Inquirer interviewed Salamat, the road had been improved. On the road to the MNLF chair's place, one can see vast cornfields, houses, schools and flowers by the roadside.

Two weeks ago, Brig. Gen. Roy Cimatu, chief of the Army's 4th ID, said that after taking over Bushra in Lanao del Sur, the military would continue to destroy the other MILF camps in Mindanao, except Abubakar. He said Abubakar would be spared ''to allow the MILF to preserve their way of life minus the guns.''

Asked why they were referring to Sarmiento as an MILF camp when it was part of Abubakar, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Angelo Reyes told the Inquirer, ''That's what they call it.'' But Reyes acknowledged that, indeed, Sarmiento was ''not one of the camps they (MILF) listed. But he added that it was ''as fortified as you can get.''

On Wednesday, the Army raised the Philippine flag inside two MILF camps abandoned by the rebels--Darapanan, a ''major camp'' in Barangay Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat in Maguindanao and Sampaguita, also in the same town. Darapanan is not on the MILF list of 13 ''major camps.'' It is first, though, on the list of ''other established camps.''

The office of MILF vice chair for military affairs Ghazali Jaafar in Barangay Crossing Simuay highway, is part of Camp Darapanan. But Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesperson, laughed off the military claim that the camp had been captured. ''We had long abandoned Darapanan . . . at the height of the fighting in Matanog. Only a few rebels were left there,'' he said.

No MILF forces

Fr. Eliseo Mercado Jr., chair of the Independent Fact-Finding Committee (IFFC) mediating the conflict between the government and the MILF, said that ''in all the MILF camps taken by the AFP, the MILF forces were nowhere to be found.''

''They either retreated to the surrounding areas and established their new camps or simply stayed around the AFP currently occupying their camps, waiting for the AFP to vacate those camps for their eventual return,'' he said. Lanao del Norte Gov. Abdullah Dimaporo said in a televised interview by the Manila Overseas Press Club that while MILF camps could be easily destroyed, the rebels could set up camp elsewhere.

Mercado noted that ''there has been no major engagement between the AFP and the MILF forces since the battle of the Narciso Ramos Highway.'' ''The MILF is not engaging the AFP in a major battle. The AFP's takeover of the camps is usually preceded by massive air and ground bombardment, truly pulverizing the village or the so-called camp. The OV-10 Bronco carries 500-pound or 1,000-pound bombs to be dropped on the village,'' he said. ''The bombs create 10-meter diameter craters and cause 'earthquakes' in the vicinity of the actual drops. There is also uninterrupted artillery shelling of the village to be taken. These shells also cause earthquakes.''