MILF failed to win back BIFF leader, concedes Iqbal

From the Daily Tribune (Feb 10): MILF failed to win back BIFF leader, concedes Iqbal

The chance of a lasting peace in Mindanao seems bleak, as efforts to convince Ameril Omra Kato, leader of the renegade Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), to support the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement remain futile, Mohaqher Iqbal, the chief of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels, admitted.

Iqbal, speaking during the inauguration of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) main office in Cotabato City, stressed the MILF has been trying to establish a bridge that would pave the way for the return of Kato to the main guerrilla forces.

“We have been trying to win him back because we are inclusive, but our efforts failed,” Iqbal told Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Deles and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II who were special guests of the program.

“We did our best but still we failed,” he lamented, but maintained that the MILF is still open to accept Kato back.

Chief government negotiator Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer had been urging Kato to help bring about peace in Mindanao by joining the peace process instead of using arms to fight the government and displaced thousands of Muslim civilians whom they vowed to protect.

Kato, about 75 years old, broke away from the MILF in 2008 following the botched signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, formed the BIFF and continued the struggle for Mindanao independence.

Iqbal has repeatedly called on sectors opposed to the establishment of a new Bangsamoro political entity to support the efforts to resolve the decades-old problem in southern Philippines.

“There’s no other better option but to support the GRP-MILF peace process because it is inclusive,” Iqbal added.

Meanwhile, members of the BIFF last Saturday bombed a transmission tower of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) in Maguindanao province.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID), said the BIFF detonated three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the NGCP tower, located in Barangay Ladia, Sultan Kudarat town, around 8:45 p.m.

“They (BIFF) attempted to collapse one tower.. .but it did not so power supply was not affected,” he added.

Hermoso said the bombing was still part of the BIFF retaliation against the government following the conduct of “Operation Darkhorse” two weeks ago that resulted in the killing of 52 rebels and the capture of four BIFF camps in Maguindanao.

The BIFF exploded several IEDs in various parts of Maguindanao at the height of the military operation, resulting in the wounding of several civilians including crew members of TV5.

He said such activity only proves the BIFF’s anti-people and anti-peace stance.

Hermoso called on the public and local government officials to remain vigilant to prevent the BIFF from launching atrocities.

“We need target hardening... there should really be security system on probable targets, including civilians so that they could inform us,” he stressed.

“This is not only for security sector, we need the LGUs (local government units), all sectors of the society and the community to report to us so that we can prevent similar occurrence,” he added.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/milf-failed-to-win-back-biff-leader-concedes-iqbal