The military is set to file protest today before the Government of the Philippines- Moro Islamic Liberation Front Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) against two MILF commanders for alleged extortion and harassment of farmers.
602nd Infantry Brigade spokesperson Capt. Tony Bulao said they will file the protest against Commanders Karim and Tarzan.
Bulao said the two MILF commanders were blocking roads and demanding zakat (shares) from the produce of farmers in Barangays Tongogon and Tupig in Carmen, North Cotabato.
“We believe the hierarchy of MILF is not tolerating any misdeeds of their men who are bringing suffering to local folks, so we are bringing this protest,” the Army official said.
The alleged acts of Karim and Tarzan triggered skirmishes between MILF fighters and civilians and armed men believed to members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by Commander Teo Minanimbong.
Col. Alan Arrojado, commander of the 602nd Brigade, urged the local government and all parties involved to meet today and resolve the conflict.
MILF spokesperson Von Al Haq said they will look into the complaint, and assured a thorough investigation.
He, however, said he was not discounting the possibility that a third party could have provoked the incident “to make these fellow Moro relatives fight to each other to discredit our organization,” Al Haq said in a local radio interview.
The incident came a day after the MILF said it would file a formal complaint before the CCCH over the death of one of its commanders Monday, February 17, in Barangay Madidis, Datu Paglas, Maguindanao.
Al Haq said they have informed their counterparts in the government panel that police operatives violated the truce by targeting Yusoph Kusain a.k.a. Commander TMX.
Kusain was killed when he reportedly tried to resist arrest by police and Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission operatives.
“There was no coordination. After all the target is not a notorious criminal, he is a bona fide member of MILF, a farmer in the said town. He is not what they think he is,” Al haq said.
But police regional director Supt. Noel Delos Reyes said the police operation was legitimate and did not violate any rules of engagement.
He said the police came to Kusain’s house to serve a warrant of arrest.
http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2014/02/21/military-to-file-protest-before-ceasefire-body-vs-2-milf-commanders/
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