Kato says he won’t return to MILF fold
Renegade Moro leader Ameril Umbra Kato on Friday declared he wouldn’t return to the fold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which had given him until Sept. 26 to go back or become an open target of government offensives.
Abu Misri Mama, who speaks for Kato’s Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) and its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), said Kato was firm in his decision to secede from the MILF.
“We are happy with our group now. We will maintain and stay with BIFM. This is the organization designed by our late chairman, Salamat Hashim,” Mama, quoting Kato, said by phone.
He said Kato had relayed the same position to the MILF, though an emissary, on Thursday.
Earlier, Von Al Haq, MILF spokesperson, said the MILF central committee gave Kato until Sept. 26 to disband the BIFM and the BIFF and return to the main rebel group’s fold.
He said the deadline was based on the recommendation of the Ulama Council, whose members had met with Kato days before.
“If Kato still won’t give in, he would be declared outside the coverage of the peace process and the ceasefire,” Al Haq said.
He said the MILF would also decide on what other actions to take against Kato after the deadline expires.
Kato was formerly head of the MILF’s 105th Base Command in Maguindanao.
His falling out with the MILF leadership started when the rebel group allegedly did not help him as the military was hunting him down in connection with the 2008 attacks he led in North Cotabato.
Kato also resented the way the MILF was handling the peace talks with the government, saying it had softened on the stand for Moro independence.
In January, he announced the formation of the BIFF as his armed group, and later the BIFM as the mother organization.
Mama said Kato was still willing to talk with Murad Ebrahim, the MILF chair, but only to clarify his stand on the BIFM and the BIFF.
But he said Kato had made it clear that he would not go to Camp Darapanan, the MILF’s main base.
“Ustadz Kato cannot go anymore to them since the military is hunting him. We cannot take the risk of going to Darapanan. But he is willing to sit and talk with Murad,” he said.
On the MILF’s announcement that it would decide on what other actions to take against Kato, Mama said: “Let’s see what will happen on Sept. 26.”
But he said Kato did not feel threatened by the MILF deadline.
The chair of the government’s coordinating committee on the cessation of hostilities urged the MILF and the BIFF to put an end to the land conflict in Datu Piang, Maguindanao that pitted MILF against BIFF members. Edwin Fernandez and Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao, reporting from Cotabato City
