35 MILF members held for uncoordinated travel in Maguindanao
Peace and Order • 12:30 PM Tue Nov 2, 2021
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By:
John M. Unson
COTABATO CITY --- Authorities foiled late Monday an attempt by 35 armed Moro Islamic Liberation Front members to travel to somewhere in Maguindanao without prior coordination.
They were riding separate vehicles that policemen and soldiers under the Army’s 6th Infantry Division intercepted at a checkpoint in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao, acting on tips by vigilant informants.
Colonel Jibin Bongcayao, director of the Maguindanao provincial police, said Tuesday the 35 armed men belong to the MILF’s 105th Base Command and were to proceed to Talitay town in the second district of Maguindanao.
The group was brought to the headquarters of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion in Talayan for documentation in preparation for the filing of a formal protest, for their ceasefire offense, with the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team, or IMT.
The IMT is a multi-national bloc observing for two decades now the compliance by Philippine security forces and the MILF with the ceasefire accord meant to ensure the cordiality of the peace process between the front and Malacañang.
All peace and security agreements between the government and the MILF require members of the front to coordinate first any activity, including travels of members wearing uniforms and carrying firearms, with the joint ceasefire committee, the police and the military.
Major Gen. Juvymay Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the 35 MILF members are being treated nicely while under military custody.
He said they have a team that would deal directly with the IMT and the MILF’s ceasefire committee in resolving the issue.
Von Al-Haq, spokesman of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, has confirmed that their 35 members indeed violated standing security agreements with the national government.
He said the 35 MILF members were to proceed to Talitay from Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao when they were intercepted at a checkpoint near the campus of the Mindanao State University in Datu Odin Sinsuat,Maguindanao on Monday night. (John Felix Unson)