Razon: AFP, Abu Sayyaf fighting in Sulu won't affect peace talks with MILF
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MANILA, Sept. 21 - Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino I. Razon Jr. today said the clash
between government forces and the Abu Sayyaf terror group in Indanan, Sulu on Monday would not in anyway
affect the upcoming reopening of peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
"The fighting did not involve the MILF because in the first place there are no MILF elements on the island of
Sulu," Razon said when interviewed this morning on the occasion of the International Day of Peace
Celebration that also coincided with the observance of Eid'l Fitr.
Razon said government security forces acted on self-defense after some 200 heavily armed Abu Sayyaf fired at
elements of the Philippine Marines and policemen who were out to serve warrants of arrest on three wanted
Abu Sayyaf terrorist leaders - Dr. Abu, Albader Parad and Isnilon Hapilon, who were spotted in Sitio Talibang,
Buansa, Indanan. Sulu.
The trio are the most wanted Abu Sayyaf terrorist leaders, who are facing an array of criminal charges ranging
from mulitple murder to mass kidnapping.
Razon said it was the Abu Sayyaf who fired the first salvo to prevent the policemen and soldiers from serving
the warrants of arrest of the three wanted Abu Sayyaf terrorist leaders.
He said no MILF member was involved in the fighting, adding that the projected resumption of peace talks with
the Moro rebels would not be affected.
The violent resistance by the Abu Sayyaf triggered the fighting, Razon said.
"Government security forces acted only in self-defemse," he said.
Last week, negotiators from the Philippine government and the MILF have agreed to form an International
Contact Group (ICG) that would monitor the peace process, paving the way for the resumption of the talks
which were stalled last year following the aborted signing of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on
Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) which the Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional.
Razon said the Philippine government is just waiting word from Malaysia, who is acting as third country
facilitator, for the formal peace talks to resume.
"This is good news to us," he added.
Razon said the Philippine government is looking forward for the resumption of negotiations shortly so that
there will be peace in southern Philippines.
During the observance of Eid'l Fitr, Razon attended the celebration at the Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila
which was also attended by thousands of Muslims residing in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.
Another celebration was held at the Quezon City Memorial Circle in Quezon City where peace advocates
called to end the insurgency war in the country.
Undersecretary Nabil Tan, who is the deputy Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, called for unity
among all Filipinos to attain a lasting peace.
"History shows us that in times of massive challenges and seeminglyt insurmountable obstacles, one virtue
has helped overcome these barriers, and this virtue is unity," Tan said.
He said that "unity is the instrument that will enable us to have a firm resolve to forge ahead, and to find
avenues of change that will be beneficial to a greater majority and nbot just to one's self."
Tan, a Muslim from Sulu, expressed the belief "that despiter the chalenges and obstacles we face we traverse
the road towards the attainment of sustainable and lasting peace, not forging on is not and never will be an
option."
"I have no illusions about the difficulty of attaining sustainable and lasting peace; I am also aware of how
impossible forming a united community may seem. But let us all remember that a spirit of harmony will survive
only if each of us remembers that we owe it to ourselves and to our children to build and have a coluntry, even
a world, marked by a common identity of interest, a oneness of purpose and a shared desire for true peace,"
Tan concluded.
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