MILF
to RRD: ‘What can we do?’
By Carmelito Q. Francisco, Staff Writer
THE MORO Islamic Liberation Front has asked Mayor Rodrigo
Duterte to give it an idea how it could help in the investigation of the
In interview with radio station dxDC, Jaafar said Duterte
should identify who should be surrendered to the government. The mayor, in his
television program Sunday, challenged the rebel group to show evidence that it
was not part of the bombing, or surrender the bombers.
Duterte has accused the MILF of bombing the
The City Prosecution Office already recommended charges
for multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder
against Terso and Undungan Sudang, who have been in the custody of the Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group.
The Sudangs were among those arrested while claiming the
body of Muntazer Sudang, reportedly the one who planted the bomb, at the
The investigators accused the Sudangs of being members,
but Mayor Luzviminda Tan of Kabacan, Cotabato said they were farmers with Terso
Sudang being a barangay chair of Simone.
The rebel group reiterated its challenge to the national
government to implement the joint communiqué signed on
Under the said agreement, the two sides would cooperate
in running after lawlessness in MILF-controlled areas.
The joint communiqué, signed in behalf of the government
by Presidential Adviser on Special Concerns Norberto Gonzales, was criticized
by some government officials because it would give police powers to the MILF.
Jaafar stressed that under the communiqué, the two sides
were tasked to form a body that would jointly identify what steps to take in
running after criminals.
“Without that, the MILF cannot do anything,” Jaafar said.
“We might even face bigger problems, because we are not allowed to bring arms
in running after the criminals.”
He said the MILF could not understand why the government
refused to implement the joint communiqué. “The government needs the political
will to implement that joint communiqué,” Jaafar said.
Earlier, the MILF accused the government of violating the
communiqué after the military attacked MILF positions in the Buliok Complex in
Pikit,
The military, at first, claimed that the attacked was not
meant against the MILF but was intended for the arrest of the members of the
Pentagon kidnap gang, the group involved in several kidnapping for ransom cases
in
But the military accused the MILF of coddling members of
the Pentagon as some of its members were also members of the kidnap group.
Yet after taking over the Buliok Complex, the military
admitted that it was intended to drive away the rebels because they were
already massing in the area.
The armed forces, including Defense Secretary Angelo
Reyes, said one of those living in the area was Salamat.
Despite the setback in the peace negotiations, Jaafar
said, the MILF will still continue to open its doors for negotiations. “We know
that the barrel of the gun will never be the solution to the problem,” Jaafar
added.