MILF stance on Kato a violation of ceasefire?

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s reluctance to let the police and military hunt down renegade rebel commander Ameril Umbra Kato could already be an “indirect violation” of the government-MILF ceasefire, local officials in Central Mindanao said yesterday.

The government and the MILF, under the 1997 general agreement on cessation of hostilities that was crafted in Cagayan de Oro City, are to mutually cooperate in the interdiction of lawless groups in areas covered by the ceasefire, particularly those holding out in duly recognized guerilla enclaves.  

“The MILF keeps on saying Kato is an internal problem, something domestic for the MILF, something that is still resolvable and, in so doing, unduly and unconsciously causes joint action against him and his followers in the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM),” said a mayor who asked not to be identified.

The MILF central committee again gave Kato another grace period, until Sept. 26, to disband his BIFM and return to the fold of his former group.

A spokesman of Kato, Abu Misra Mama, said Kato is not bothered by the deadline and that it should be the MILF’s chieftain, Al-Haj Murad, who should meet him on neutral ground to discuss their demands.

“Until when will the government wait for the MILF to declare Kato as a threat to the peace process? It’s incumbent upon the MILF, as espoused by the ceasefire, to let the government, as a bilateral initiative, come into the picture and help address this Kato thing,” said a local executive in the first district of Maguindanao.

Kato’s group has rejected an MILF offer for a dialogue at the front’s Camp Darapanan in Maguindanao, saying Kato could be ambushed on his way there.

Tension has been high in at least four adjoining barangays in Datu Piang, Maguindanao following Wednesday’s bloody attacks by BIFM fighters on MILF forces in the area. The hostilities forced more than 700 families to evacuate to safer areas for fear of being trapped in the crossfire.

The chairman of the government’s ceasefire committee, Brig. Gen. Ariel Bernardo, said line agencies and local officials can only attend to the needs of the evacuees and cannot do anything to resolve the BIFM-MILF hostilities.