Mayor accuses MNLF of massing in Zamboanga del Sur town

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Oct 10): Mayor accuses MNLF of massing in Zamboanga del Sur town

A municipal mayor in Zamboanga del Sur has accused the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) of sowing fear in a village in his town by allegedly massing up forces there. “Armed men introducing themselves as members of the MNLF have been massing up since October 3 and they were causing fear and displacements in Barangay (the village of) Lower Landing,” Mayor Nacianceno Pacalioga Jr. of Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, by phone on Wednesday.
He said that as of Wednesday, 15 families from Barangay Lower Landing fled their homes while officials of the Lower Landing Elementary School suspended classes when schoolchildren failed to report since Monday due to fear of the armed men. Pacalioga said the number of MNLF men in the village grew by the day from just five a few days ago. About 25 armed MNLF men in the area, who were being led by commander Aspie Abdurahman, MNLF training director, and his deputy, Ahmad Joemar Jajie. “Dumingag has no large Muslim population and it is not known to be an MNLF area, that’s why their presence was causing fear,” Pacalioga said....

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/286612/mayor-accuses-mnlf-of-massing-in-zamboanga-del-sur-town