Army chief declares end of conflict with rebel group

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Carlito Galvez Jr has officially declared the end of war between the Philippine military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Galvez made the declaration during a visit yesterday to the MILF’s camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat where he met with MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
He was accompanied by high-ranking military officials from the national headquarters and the Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom). Some 6,000 MILF supporters lined up along the Sultan Kudarat highway to welcome Galvez and his party.
“I can now declare that the war between the Armed Forces and the MILF is finally over,” Galvez said. “To my commanders, let us embrace our brothers and sisters and give them respect and lasting peace that the Moro people deserve.” Ebrahim expressed joy on the visit of Galvez to their camp, describing it as “historical.” “This visit represents the degree of progress we have made over the years in bringing significant co-operation between our military officers in our quest for peace in the Bangsamoro homeland,” he said
The MILF leadership bestowed on Galvez the “Soldier of Peace Award,” the first to be given to a military officer by the group. “I came back to one (of) the most revered places, a place I can call home because here lived those gallant men I considered my brethren, those whom I had been working with for a peaceful Mindanao,” Galvez said.
He used to head the WestMinCom, being one of the key military officials during the five-month Marawi City siege in 2017, and the Philippine Army’s sixth Infantry Division, which deals with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Central Mindanao. In 2015, Galvez was the Philippine government’s chairman for the Co-ordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities.
During his stint, the bloody Mamasapano clash with the MILF in Maguindanao that led to the deaths of 44 police commandos took place. Galvez’s meeting with the MILF leadership came months after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which creates the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Galvez noted that between the MILF and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the communist rebels have been “deceptive, manipulative and insincere.”
“They burned road project equipment, they executed thousands, even their own comrades. They extort and always wanted to take advantage,” he said.