Deadly Basilan clash with MILF won’t disrupt peace process – AFP
Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. pins a Wounded Personnel Medal to a soldier of the Army’s 32nd Infantry Battalion following a clash with Moro Islamic Liberation Front members in Sumisip, Basilan, on Wednesday. (JULIE S. ALIPALA)
MANILA, Philippines — The fatal clash between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Philippine Army personnel won’t hamper the ongoing peace process, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Tuesday.
AFP Spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla made this remark following the MILF ambush which killed two soldiers in Sumisip, Basilan.
Padilla said the encounter as an “isolated incident,” ”the most serious slide to violence against each other since the landmark peace deal in 2014.
“We have gone through leaps and bounds in our peace process,” Padilla said in a regular briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines would really not want to undermine the gains that we have acquired through the years.”
Article continues after this advertisement“For so many years, there weren’t any incidents like this,” she pointed out.
The MILF forged a peace agreement with the Philippine government which paved the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
