ISABELA CITY, Basilan — The provincial government here is pushing for the adoption of a “mechanism” by agencies involved in the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to address a possible “misunderstanding” between the security forces and members of the MILF in the province that could result in an armed confrontation.

Governor Hadjiman S. Hataman-Salliman said yesterday that government agencies involved in the peace process must adopt a system that could eliminate or minimize the possible armed confrontation between the MILF and soldiers.

Salliman suggested that government peace agencies should enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the MILF in the province, explaining to them that “bringing firearms is already restricted outside their camp.”

Salliman said, “We cannot deny that there are still firearms in the rural areas and this issue we must address carefully and with sensibility.”

“As the governor of the province, I suggest that the MoU should state that the military must be confined in areas outside the territory or jurisdiction of the MILF to avoid misunderstanding. The MILF also should not carry their firearms outside their territory to avoid conflict,” Gov. Salliman emphasized.

He admitted that his suggestion could not produce an outright result. “It is not like magic that outright will produce positive results. It will take time,” he said.

The ambush incident in Barangay Lower Cabengbeng was a wake-up call for everybody — MILF, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity or OPAPRU, national government, regional government, and the local government units.

He described the recent ambush and armed confrontation between the soldiers and the MILF in the province as a “remnant of Basilan’s history in the past.

Salliman explained that there are times, hatred continues to exist in the heart of some MILF fighters and their hatred was visible when they burned a military vehicle in a recent encounter. The “vulnerability of hostilities” still exists in the rural area of the province, he added.