ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
The chief of the Philippines army bid an emotional farewell Thursday to military commanders in the country's Muslim south – a region that has been wracked by minor insurgencies from rebels opposed to a peace deal with the government.
Top military officials from provinces in the southern Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao gathered at Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City – a majority Christian city in the predominantly Muslim south - for General Emmanuel Bautista's last audience.
Bautista told the audience that the armed forces under his command had negotiated a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), conducted operations against the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf and invited a communist insurgency to lay down its arms.
He said there had been great progress as many members of the Muslim and communist militant groups had already surrendered to the law.
Bautista added that the military is relentlessly pursuing fugitive Nur Misuari, a leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim insurgency whose breakaway group – the MILF – signed a March 27 peace deal with the Philippine government which the MNLF considers a betrayal of a previous agreement.
Misuari is currently in hiding on charges of rebellion and violation of international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes against humanity.
The charges are in connection with the Zamboanga siege, which displaced more than 120,000 civilians, left nearly 200 people dead, and scores of others wounded.
"There is no possibility the MNLF can make a comeback," Bautista said Thursday, adding that the armed forces in Mindanao are always ready to protect the people.
The retiring chief commended the troops who served during the September siege.
Bautista also graced the launch of a new military radio station, whose first program provided information on Ramadan - the Muslim month of fasting.
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