AJLPP Statement

September 3, 2008

US-Arroyo Regime Policy of "All Out Peace" Means "All Out War".

Los Angeles-- With profound sadness and most serious concern, the Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP through its West Coast Coordinator Arturo P. Garcia expresses dismay over the fate of the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine Government.

The AJLPP views President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recent orders of a "thorough review" of all government peace initiatives after dissolving the panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), as bad faith, lacking in political will and a traditional display of political opportunism

The AJLPP is alarmed by the growing number of people affected by the conflict. AJLPP sources have confirmed that more than 487,000 people have been dislocated by the ongoing military offensives in Northern and Central Mindanao. More than 200 soldiers and MILF fighters as well as civilians have been killed in the month old conflict.

As the foremost US stooge and ultra-militarist Eduardo Ermita reiterated this was in line with the President's policy shift of talking directly to the communities to resolve conflicts. This clearly means an all-out war in Mindanao.

Arroyo also ordered Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to "carry out a thorough review of all peace initiatives," including the MILF, the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), the peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), interim agreements with the MILF, and "applicable provisions" of Republic Act 9054 that established the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Esperon and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales will fly to Malaysia to inform its government, the third-party facilitator of the talks, of Malacañang's decision, Ermita said.

Ermita said: "President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has directed a new paradigm in the peace process by mandating that peace negotiations be refocused from one centered on dialogue with rebels to one of authentic dialogue," Ermita said in a prepared statement which he read at the Palace.

For the AJLPP this is just a euphemism for an all out war in Mindanao and a crack down on the MILF by the byword of “all out peace”.

The AJLPP is alarmed by the growing number of people affected by the conflict. AJLPP sources have confirmed that more than 487,000 people have been dislocated by the ongoing military offensives in Northern and Central Mindanao. More than 200 soldiers and MILF fighters as well as civilians have been killed in the month old conflict.