November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, 11 dead 6 wounded in MILF attacks, by John Unson and Allen Estabillo,

November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, 11 dead 6 wounded in MILF attacks, by John Unson and Allen Estabillo, 

COTABATO CITY — Marauding Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels gunned down 11 people, wounded six others and set 32 houses on fire as they plundered farming communities in different spots in Central Mindanao the other day. 

The attacks came a day after MILF rebels sprayed with automatic weapons two buses passing through the Pikit-Midsayap portion of the Cotabato- Davao Highway, killing a commuter and wounding 16 others, among them teachers on their way home from a field trip to Davao City. 

Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said a band of MILF rebels first raided Barangay Lasak in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat, opening fire on houses with B-40 rocket launchers and machineguns. 

  
The attack left five innocent villagers dead. They were identified as Luzviminda Eleccion, her son Richard, sister Gemma Bianzon and nephews Reggie Suede and Allan Siruco. Luzviminda's husband Geronimo was seriously wounded. He is in critical condition at a hospital in Koronadal City. 

  
Boboy Bianzon, Luzviminda's brother, said he and another companion were sleeping in their house, 50 meters away from the Eleccions, when they were awakened by Gemma's shout, pleading for them to flee, which they did. 

  
In Pikit, North Cotabato, two groups of MILF rebels separately raided farming communities in Barangays Dalengawen and Takepan, killing five villagers for refusing to shell out protection money. 

Ando identified the slain villagers as Cesar Alejo, Eddie Soriano, and Florentino, Paulina and Primitivo, all surnamed Calibuso. Local officials said the victims were herded into one spot where they were shot one after  another. Ando said the rebel-attackers were led by Commander Akmad Abdullah, long wanted for a string of criminal offenses. Three other villagers, 12-year-old May Anne Alejo, Loreto Andiana and Julius Soriano,  were wounded when Abdullah's group strafed houses with machineguns as they fled from the scene after sensing that military reinforcements had started closing in. 

Abdullah's men torched more than a dozen houses shortly before fleeing and carted away farm animals, the local police said. The Pikit police said the rebels also gang-raped a woman they used as human shield to forestall pursuit. Pikit is located 78 kilometers north of this city. 

Responding elements of the Army's 40th Infantry Battalion engaged the rebels in a four-hour running gunbattle, killing four of them and wounding six others. Four combatants of the 40th IB were slightly wounded in the skirmishes, Ando said. 

The bloody incidents in Columbio and Pikit towns were preceded by the MILF's attack on Barangay Itao in South Upi, Maguindanao where they killed a villager, a certain Ted Mangula, and wounded two militiamen, identified as Gerry Compleza and Ignacio Diwan. 

The rebels, led by Said Putao, burned 32 houses of Tiruray natives. Last Saturday, religious and political leaders asked Malacañang to work out the resumption of its peace negotiations with the MILF before the start of Ramadhan on Nov. 27. They expressed fears that radical MILF members would carry out more attacks during the season. 

"Muslim rebels believe it is during the month of Ramadhan that the gates of heaven are wide-open for martyrs. So the government and the MILF must forge a bilateral ceasefire before the start of Ramadhan," said peace advocate Hadji Ahmad Bayam, a former propagandist of the Moro National Liberation Front. 

During the Ramadhan, Muslims abstain from food, sex and drink from sunrise to sunset for one lunar cycle, or 30 days. Its observance is one of the five fundamentals of Islam, which include belief in Allah, giving of alms to the poor, praying five times a day and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime. 

Maguindanao Gov. Zacaria Candao, chairman of the Provincial Peace and Order Council, said holding a formal round of talks between the government and MILF panels during the Ramadhan would even give a religious meaning to the peace process. "Forging a ceasefire during the Ramadhan will enjoin the MILF to really adhere to it because of the religious importance of this holy month to Muslims," Candao said.