Govt-MILF truce set; arrest warrants lifted

?Peace is at hand,? Pre­sident Arroyo said on Fri­day as she announced the
cessation of hostilities between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front and urged the two panels to imme­diately start talks toward a final peace
agreement.

?Today, the peace panels of our government and the MILF have agreed on a
mutual cessation of hostilities,? the President declared as she directed the
Armed Forces to downgrade its operational status ?from punitive operations to
active defense.?

Secretary Eduardo Ermita, the presidential adviser on the peace process, and
Al-Hadj Murad, head of the MILF peace panel, signed the truce agreement. It
took effect at 12:01 a.m. today.

The truce with the MILF came amid the increasing onslaught by the New
People?s Army against government troops and policemen, usually those
stationed in remote posts. The cease-fire means the government would be facing
one less war front.

Manila Times

I had no idea militant MILFs were wreaking havoc. It's always a good idea to make peace with MILFs. :evilgrin:

Sorry to be so flip about what is really a very serious situation. I just can't get past that acronym...

In the FAA, we had "Airspace Review Teams" (ARTs) that existed in each area of our facility to try to find ways to expedite air traffic. These ARTs reported to the facility-wide body...you guessed it, the Facility Airspace Review Team (FART).

That acronym lasted all of 3 days...

A couple months ago when I read that the NPA was launching their offensive, they framed it in part in terms of assisting the Islamic front against the hated government, but Arroyo is using it as a means of dividing the different revolutionary groups with promises to buy off one while turning to another. Some sort of ceasefire there would be nice of course (if it holds), but it would make more sense for the different groups to coordinate their campaigns to have a better chance of accomplishing something.

Now if only the collective maturity of their "western" audience could just maybe advance about 10yrs, there wouldn't be the exact same "MILF" line every time the subject comes up without exception..

What I read is its a deal like that made with MNLF.
Don't see how it can be a bad thing.

It was a bit interesting given the bluster from the government
about crushing them all forthwith when Shrub visited a while back.