MILF sincere in helping govt hunt targets like Marwan, Usman —peace panel

From GMA News (Apr 7): MILF sincere in helping govt hunt targets like Marwan, Usman —peace panel

Officials from the government peace panel on Tuesday said their counterparts from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were sincere in cooperating with the authorities in going after high-value targets like the late Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and the still at-large Abdul Basit Usman.

At the resumption of the House hearing on the Mamasapano clash, Brigadier Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., chairperson of the government part of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), said, "The leadership of MILF is very sincere in getting Marwan and Basit Usman."

Galvez further said that they have had "secret alliances" with the MILF regarding the hunt.

"Before nangyari ang Mamasapano, may secret alliances kami with MILF. Sa MILF pagka po nalaman ng kamag-anak na nagsasabi sila ng information sa amin, that is haram, hindi kaaya-aya sa kanila. Nagkaroon na kami ng secret arrangement, mismo ASG ay pumupunta na sa amin," he said.

He added: "Ang strategy nila Marwan, doon mismo sila pumunta sa area ng MILF. We have some mechanisms that we are improving now, nagkakaroon tayo ng operations na low-level because it will be detrimental in these operations."

Meanwhile, Brigadier Gen. Manolito Orense, who heads the government part of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), added: "In my dealings with the MILF, sila ay sumusunod sa mga nalagdaang kasunduan."

Orense pointed out that the AHJAG and the CCCH were established to enable the government security forces to carry out its law enforcement operations.

However, he echoed chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, who said the International Monitoring Team found that organizationally, the MILF "is not probably in violation of that ceasefire agreement, but some of the members of the MILF have knowledge of Marwan in the area."

"I agree with Prof. Ferrer dahil batay sa napagkasunduan, the MILF and the AFP should put up Adhoc group to apprehend criminals to hasten the crimes. I agree na hindi naman sakop ng MILF ang individual members, merong individual members na siguro nagbibigay at nagkakanlong sa high-value targets," he said.

In its report, the MILF commission that investigated on the incident stressed that it was not protecting Marwan and Usman, saying the two were encamped in temporary houses at least two kilometers away from the group's stronghold in Barangay Tukanalipao.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said they did not see any benefit in coddling Marwan.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/465882/news/nation/milf-sincere-in-helping-govt-hunt-targets-like-marwan-usman-peace-panel