COTABATO CITY—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said a lack of coordination by government security forces led to Wednesday’s clash in Basilan that killed two soldiers and wounded 12 others.
“The ceasefire protocol has to be respected,” MILF chief negotiator and Bangsamoro education minister Mohagher Iqbal said in an interview here in Cotabato City yesterday.
“It is an unfortunate incident and both the government and the MILF are victims. There was no coordination,” Iqbal added.
Meanwhile, Bangsamoro Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim called for calm as the investigation continues, expressing sadness over the incident, which coincided with the 6th founding anniversary celebrations of the region.
“This incident is particularly disheartening as it transpired during the weeklong celebration of the 6th Foundation Anniversary of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), a period that symbolizes unity, peace, and progress in our region,” he said.
Ebrahim heads the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the region’s interim government. “We urge all parties to remain calm as we work towards addressing this incident through appropriate channels,” he said.
“The Bangsamoro Government strongly believes that the established mechanisms within the peace process, such as the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), are the best platforms to investigate and resolve this matter,” he added.
In a letter to Iqbal dated January 23, 2025, Butch Camarinas, head of the UNDP Cotabato Field Office, explained that the government troops from the 32nd Infantry Brigade were on their way to replace UNDP escorts from the 4th Special Forces Battalion.
“I understand that the area of the incident was around 15 to 20 kilometers from Brgy. Benembengan where we were at that time. I hope this helps clarify things,” Camarinas said.
The military, for its part, immediately filed a protest against the MILF over the encounter in Sumisip.
Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said all ground commanders assigned at the Western Mindanao Command area of responsibility have filed a protest letter before the MILF.
However, Butch Malang, chairman of the MILF-CCCH (Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities), maintained their government counterpart did not give any heads up that security forces will be entering an MILF area.
“Upon receiving the incident report, I called our secretariat and they confirmed they did not receive any coordination. Even a text message to alert us would have been sufficient,” Malang said.
He said his team will leave for Basilan today (Saturday) to visit the site of the incident.
Moving forward, Iqbal urged the Marcos administration to consider a proposal to revive the International Monitoring Team to serve as a neutral third party observer, especially for ceasefire breaches.
“We are now partners with the government, but we don’t understand why until not they are not allowing the return of the IMT,” Iqbal said.
The MILF official said they were told there was concern on the part of the government over the return of foreign military observers in Mindanao.
“We even created separate technical working groups to discuss the issue. In fact the MILF agreed to an all-civilian IMT,” he said.
“We have been pushing for this since 2022,” Iqbal added.
Brawner, for his part, said based on social media posts, including photographs of the attack, “some of the perpetrators who helped the group of lawless elements headed by Najal Buena and Oman Hajal Jalis were members of the MILF.”
“To the members of the MILF, we are following a process. We will pursue the perpetrators. We cannot let this pass,” Brawner said as he visited wounded soldiers confined in hospitals in Zamboanga City and Isabela City in Basilan.
Presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez earlier condemned the attack, describing it as the work of peace spoilers.
He urged the MILF leadership to impose disciplinary action against those involved to prevent similar incidents from happening.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “MILF blames ‘lack of coordination’ for Basilan clash.”