The Philippines is open to calls to halt an army offensive against rogue Muslim rebels, the most senior military commander in the south said on Thursday, adding that the conflict was taking a large toll in lives and money.
"We are open to a cease-fire because we realise that we can't end this problem by annihilating each other," Lieutenant-General Cardozo Luna, the military's vice chief of staff and commander of all military forces on southern Mindanao island, told reporters.
"But, we have to do what we're doing now." Luna said any decision to halt the offensive and return to peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would be a political issue.
"Our police operations would continue until we are told to stop," he said, adding the military was aware of numerous calls from church groups and non-government organisations for a truce due to the death and destruction in the south. Luna also said the conflict was expensive.