some excerpts from Philippine Daily Inquirer
I had a brief talk with a friend of mine in the military and he happens to be deployed in Mindanao at the present writing. It seems he cannot go home to his family yet and enjoy his break from deployment since the military badly needs airforce pilots to ensure full support to its recurring close encounters against MILF. He is hardly stationed at one point since he needs to fly from one province to another to support the ground forces for the army.
True enough, I had read in the headlines that insurgencies in Mindanao are escalating. And may I quote from the Philippine Daily Inquirer: "Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels on Friday started withdrawing from the areas they had occupied in the province of North Cotabato as the 24-hour deadline set by the government expired, Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said".
North Cotabato is being held grounds for the rebels. As my friend and I talk about the sad plight of this neverending conflict in Minadanao, we start to look at each other and recall we are both 80's babies and seem to recall a familiar tune. We smile about and start singing about the classic song: "Sa bayan ko'ng sinilangan...sa Timog Cotabato...sila sila ang naglalaban...di ko alam ang dahilan ng gulo."
Well, no one really knows...not even those who are out there in the battlefield, but those who are behind the 'ploys'...although I have heard it is because of large mining deposits in Mindanao... at a certain extent this is understandable for economics, but to wage WAR might be too unnecessary...
Who knows which ones are real, which are plotted. For the government can do anything to stage a better show.
FULL STORY
