Police in tight watch for Muslim youths in Metro

Police are closely monitoring at least 80 Muslim youths who are in Metro Manila apparently to join the military but could have been recruited to spring out of his Laguna jail, Nur Misuari, the detained former chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The 80 Muslim youths paid P30,000 and P70,000 to a certain Lt. Mutilan, an alleged MNLF integree into the Army, for enlisted personnel and officer positions, respectively, said Superintendent Bayani de la Rea, head of the Regional Intelligence and Special Operations Office (RISOO).

The presence of the Muslim youths in Metro Manila came to light after joint elements of RISOO and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) arrested last week Amer Buisan y Mutilan alias Lt. Mutilan, 33; Tro Mohamad, 31; Dima Mamalac, 34; and Kage Miriam Lingga, 37, during separate operations in Quiapo and Intramuros, Manila.

Buisan claimed he was an MNLF integree into the Army who went absent without official leave (AWOL) last year. But Army records shows no Lt. Amer Mutilan in their masterlist.

De la Rea said Buisan and his group recruited Muslim youths in the Lanao provinces and Cotabato City and offered them positions in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as MNLF integrees. The job applicants paid Lt. Mutilan the sum of P30,000 for ordinary enlisted ranks and P70,000 for officers.

Buisan, De la Rea said, asked them to live with their relatives in different Muslim communities in Metro Manila and be ready for military training in Tanay, Rizal on short notice. But the promise failed to materialize and seven of the Muslim youths filed a swindling complaint against Buisan with De la Rea. During tactical interrogation, Buisan named a certain Kamarudin Saripada, of Cotabato City, as their financier and handler. Coincidentally, Saripada is one of the suspects in the bombing incident in Metro Manila on December 2000.

Buisan told De la Rea that Saripada asked each of them to recruit at least 50 Muslim youths into their fold.

The military said that there is no recruitment quota for former MNLF members for training in Tanay, the home of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Divison (ID).The AFP claimed that all MNLF members should be recommended by the joint panels of the MNLF and the government before they can be integrated into the military.

Late last year, a number of MNLF integrees rose against the government after Misuari was stripped of his seat as governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Misuari was arrested in Malaysia and deported to the country. He is presently jailed at a police training camp in Laguna.

Meanwhile, Metro Manila police chief Director Edgar Aglipay claimed that the arrest of Buisan and his swindling group is a big blow to organized crime in Metro Manila.

"This will enhance the confidence building measures initiated by the government with different Muslim groups," Aglipay said.

He further averred that the neutralization of the group is essential becasue our "Muslim brothers will feel that they are not being neglected by the government if they become victims of criminality in Metro Manila." – Non Alquitran