MILF leaves Umbra Kato, Bravo to defend selves

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front leadership hinted Saturday it will not give support to two "rogue" commanders, now having P10-million tag each for their capture. MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said commanders Bravo and Umbra Kato are likely aware of the doubling of the increased reward for information leading to their capture. "Nakikinig ang mga ito sa radyo. Kung nakarating sa Mindanao ang broadcast nakikinig sila sa atin (Bravo and Kato are listening on the radio. If news of the reward reached Mindanao, they would know about it)," Jaafar said in an interview on dzXL radio. But when asked what advice he would give to the two, he said, "wala akong mapayo sa kanila (I cannot give them any advice)." However, he did not indicate that the MILF will change its stance and turn over the two to the government. On Friday, the interior department announced the doubling of the reward for information leading to the two rogue commanders, who led raids on several parts of Mindanao last August. Interior secretary Ronaldo Puno said the reward for the two had been raised from P5 million to P10 million. The MILF earlier claimed it lost contact with the two and could not contact them via cell phone as the military would use the cell phone signals to track them down. Attacks justified MILF officials "justified" the attack of Kato in North Cotabato, claiming it was merely in retaliation for the military's alleged occupation of MILF areas there. On the other hand, they said that while the MILF leadership did not condone Bravo's attacks, which stemmed from his "frustration" with the peace process. Meanwhile, Jaafar said the MILF has officially received notice of the dissolution of the government peace panel. He said this is a "normal" development in any peace process. "Probably in any negotiation anywhere in the world ang isang party to the negotiations. Sa amin ginawa namin ito in the past. Binuwag namin ang peace panel pero na-reconstitute ito (In any negotiation anywhere in the world, this happens. We have also done this in the past, dissolving our peace panel but reconstituting it again when the time comes)," he said. But he refused to speculate on whether the government's move will boost the peace process. He would only say he sees the "sincerity" of the government, particularly of presidential peace process adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. "All of them are serious. It is unfair to call them not serious," he added, referring to the government peace panel. - GMANews.TV