BONGABON, Nueva Ecija – "Pakikipag-usap."
This was how a military officer who once crossed swords with rebels in Mindanao summed up the possible solution on the recurring bloody rebellion in southern Philippines.
Col. Melquiades L. Feliciano, commanding officer of the Army’s 71st Infantry Battalion, a unit under the Fort Ramon Magsaysay-based 7th Infantry Division, said he believes that a peaceful solution in the Mindanao distress can still be solved through a no-nonsense honest-to-goodness dialogue.
He admitted not every conflict can be solved by armed struggle.
In his stint here, Feliciano himself led a hot pursuit operation in the hinterlands of Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija to Aurora and Nueva Vizacaya provinces against New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in the early part of 2009.
Several guerillas were killed in the series of encounter in that operation.
"Pakikipag-usap sa pamilya o bahay-bahay sa barangay na apektado,"
Rationalizing on this simplistic approach, Feliciano said that the issues in the field, rural areas, are diametrically opposed to those issues being entertained at the top echelon of the civil government.
"The humane intervention should at all times be given a chance," he said.
He admitted that "this entails a lot of hard work and time". But added that through a common front with humane approach, "there is still the probability of peace and understanding when two individuals talk civilly," he said.
As Commander of the Army’s 34th Military Intelligence Company of the 1st Infantry Division, Feliciano had caused the neutralization of the 103 CPP-NPA of the Western Mindanao Command, and the capture of nine members of the MNLF Lost Command.
In all his past army exploits, Feliciano disclosed that "interactions and group discussions" play vital roles in the reformation and rehabilitation of the rebel groups.
Narrating his past experiences, Feliciano said that giving a second chance to hundreds of rebels either captured or surrendered through dialogues resulted in their rehabilitation.
"They are our brother Filipinos, too," Feliciano said.
Feliciano said when asked of possible approaches against rebellion in Mindanao.
