Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said yesterday that the AFP has been directed to consult the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the International Monitoring Team (IMT) on how to hold together the ceasefire agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) troops in Maguindanao, following the fresh fighting between paramilitary troops and MILF rebels last week.

"President Arroyo has also instructed the AFP to work closely with government relief agencies and the local governments to address the plight of evacuees and ensure their safe return to their homes," Bunye said in a statement.

Bunye assured that the recent series of fighting between government troops and MILF rebels are isolated cases and will not affect the peace process in Mindanao, which the government assessed earlier as being almost complete.

"The government is determined to pursue peace and development while taking all effective means to stop terrorism and bringing to justice those who have engaged in bombings and depredations," Bunye said, in response to appeals for the national government to intervene in the resolution of the bombing incident in Maguindanao recently which authorities believe to be targeted at Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan.

The fighting reportedly erupted when authorities tried to serve arrest warrants to two MILF commanders allegedly involved in the bombing in Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao which the MILF denied carrying out.

Both the government and the MILF, however, have denied being the first to break the ceasefire agreement.

Meanwhile, militant group Bayan Muna raised fears that the recent clashes between the government and the MILF might escalate to the Muslim rebel group’s being the next target of another all-out war from the government.

Bayan Muna representative Joel Virador aired this concern, citing previous actions of the government in resolving bombings against top local officials in Mindanao.

"The vicious efforts carried out by the government to resolve the 2003 bombing that killed Datu Piang town mayor Saudi Ampatuan Jr. signify that it is not sincere in pursuing peace with the MILF. For all we know, it is a scheme to include the MILF in the government’s all-out war against insurgency," Virador said.