Iligan City - "END ALL HOSTILITIES!", "SPARE THE CIVILIANS!", "PEACE NOT WAR!"
These were some of the appeals that the League of Filipino Students – MSU-IIT Chapter demanded on the day of the worst flare-up of fighting between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government's armed forces since the postponement of the signing of the MOA on Ancestral Domain two weeks ago.
"We call on the MILF and the AFP to end all hostilities and to get back to the negotiating table," said Fervil Von Tripoli, Chairperson of the LFS-IIT. Tripoli also added that "peace cannot be achieved through bloodshed and intensified hostilities." The latest count of the number of casualties when MILF insurgents raided the towns of Kolambugan and Kauswagan was 41, and ten more are held hostages.
"We strongly believe that the real reason why Arroyo and her minions has been pushing for the creation of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, which she touts as the solution to the peace problem in Mindanao, is to generate substantial grounds for the Government to endorse Charter-Change so they can eliminate the provision on the term limit of the presidency," Urbano further stressed out.
The group also announced their further plans vis-à-vis the GRP-MILF peace negotiations and Arroyo's Cha-Cha, which includes a protest action on August 21, the National Day of Protest on Charter-Change.
