Freed MILF commander vows to work for lasting peace in Mindanao
AFP FILE PHOTO
COTABATO CITY, Philippines – In the presence of lawmen and truce monitoring team from here and abroad, Wahid Tundok, the ground commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, vowed to help in the government-MILF peace-building efforts, saying his freedom from arrest was a product of the peace process.
“First of all, I thank God and the people responsible for my custody and eventual freedom,” said Tundok, commander of the MILF 118th Base Command, who was arrested by police agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at a Marine checkpoint here on Feb. 23 and placed under the Army custody of the 6th Infantry Division before his release two days after.
A regional trial court judge, George Jabido, recalled the warrant for his arrest as he was just among the other John Does that allegedly participated in the storming of villages in 2008 by MILF marauders, then led by Ameril Umra Kato, who later severed ties by organizing his own Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement with armed followers calling themselves as `freedom fighters.’
Tundok, according to government and MILF peace negotiators, is also covered by a ceasefire protocol on temporary immunity from arrest.
During a courtesy call on Saturday at the 6th ID headquarters at Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao, Tundok apologized before police and military officers, and members of the International Monitoring Team, the GPH-MILF Coordinating Committee of the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), Ad-Hoc Joint Action Group, and local government units, represented by Sharif Aguak Mayor Zahara Ampatuan and Datu Saudi Mayor Samsodin Dimaukom.
The 62-year old Tundok promised to take the path of peace in whatever capacity even to the point of bringing back to the fold misguided comrades in arms.
“We have had enough of violence as a means to resolve animosity and misunderstanding, and now is the time to overcome evil with good by supporting the government-MILF peace initiative,” Tundok, speaking in the vernacular, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“For the sake of our children and the next generation, let’s give peace a chance so that we can live peacefully and harmoniously in the land of our forebears who fought and died in vain. Peace not fist, and love instead of hatred for one another is what Allah wants of us,” Tundok said.
Toks Ebrahim, CCCH consultant, speaking in behalf of MILF chief of staff Sammy Almanzor, also thanked government peacekeepers, led by the 6th ID commander, Maj. Gen. Romeo Gapuz, and others that appealed for calm and sobriety in the handling of a volatile situation amid the anticipation for a final peace deal.
Malaysian Navy Admiral Abdul Rahman, IMT head of mission, said the issue on Tondok’s arrest was properly resolved through mutual endeavor to preserve peace.
“It demonstrated the true partnership of the GPH-MILF to prevent an impasse by amicably putting a closure to the case,” which Rahman said “could have led to the escalation of another war.”
He cited the tact with which Gapuz took Tundok into his custody, mindful of preserving his decency and integrity as a person under suspicion.
The Malaysian head of mission, however, warned the MILF that the government peace initiative “should not be used as a license to commit abusive acts to derail the talks.
“Instead, let’s continue to find ways to find true peace in Mindanao,” Rahman said.
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