Stop using soldiers as cannon fodder! Uphold the peace in Mindanao!

The members of the Tirad Pass Brigade, the officers and rank and file soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police extend their condolences to the families and friends of the scores of foot soldiers and young officers who have been killed in action in Mindanao the past several weeks. We also express our sympathy with the tens of thousands of people who are being displaced by the widespread military operations in Basilan and Sulu.
As a movement upholding the democratic aspirations and desires of the common soldier, the TPB denounces the Arroyo administration and the AFP top brass for deceiving our men, using them as cannon fodder in carrying out a reckless war in Basilan and Sulu, ordering attacks against those who are not our real enemies and with whom we have been trying to work out peace. The attacks have also caused undue hardships among tens of thousands of innocent people in the area.

As a movement upholding the Filipino people?s desire for peace, we denounce what appears to be persistent efforts by the national government to escalate the war in Mindanao and thwart the peace process with both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

AFP soldiers are being used as live bait, ordered to intrude into and operate within recognized territories of the MILF and MNLF, violate ceasefire agreements with them and initiate aggressive attacks against them and their communities in obvious challenge to the Moro rebels to launch armed counter-offensives. The AFP leadership is now using the series of armed confrontations, its humiliating defeats and large losses of men to justify the intensified massive troop deployment and offensives in Basilan and Sulu.

Last July 11, Marine soldiers were ordered to enter Tipo Tipo, Basilan, purportedly in search of kidnapped Italian priest Fr. Giancarlo Bossi, even if it was public knowledge that he was not in Basilan. They were instructed to operate in a territory where MILF rebels are known to be strong. In violation of standing protocol and in disregard of the advice of local government officials in the area, the AFP leadership did not bother to coordinate with the MILF in order to ensure that no armed encounter would occur.

Trigger-happy AFP officers even ordered the soldiers to fire at any armed persons in sight. Thus, without verification and warning, two Moro farmers seen proceeding to their farms were immediately shot at, thus angering the community as well as the MILF troops in the area and provoking a massive counter-attack against our forces.

Not only were our fellow soldiers led by our own officers to a slaughter, they were not amply supported with reinforcements and air support, resulting in the large number of soldiers killed in action. And now our top brass in the national headquarters is trying to avoid blame and pass on to the field commanders the responsibility for the series of blunders that caused the defeat and big number of casualties of our soldiers.

And last week, Army soldiers were ordered to carry out operations in Parang and several other towns in Sulu, Jolo, purportedly to engage the Abu Sayyaf bandits. However, our men have been led not into Abu Sayyaf territory, but into known territories of the MNLF. We know for a fact that no Abu Sayyaf men have been involved in the several bloody engagements in Sulu during the past week. This is confirmed not only by statements of the MNLF, but also by testimonies of our fellow Marine soldiers in the battlefield themselves. Statements by AFP spokesmen claiming that Abu Sayyaf men have been killed are all lies and are being made only to avoid being accused of violating peace agreements with the MNLF. The AFP spokesmen are now also claiming that the reason for our big number of casualties is because the other side had superior forces, after MNLF forces suppposedly combined with the Abu Sayyaf.

All this leads us to question the statements of the commander-in-chief, herself, claiming that the operations being carried out by the AFP in Basilan and Jolo are against the Abu Sayyaf and aim to fight for peace. If these statements are true, then why are the Army offensives targeting the MILF and MNLF and not the Abu Sayyaf? If we were really fighting for peace, then why are we endangering the peace processes and standing ceasefire agreements with the MILF and MNLF by attacking their forces and communities?

The TPB demands the immediate cessation of AFP offensives in Basilan and Sulu and the adherence to past peace and ceasefire agreements with the Moro rebels in order to allow the peace negotiations to continue and prosper.