Are MILF members training with Abu Sayyaf rebels in Sulu?
MANILA, Philippines — The government is validating photos showing members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front allegedly training in Sulu with the presence of Abu Sayyaf Group.
“We asked the ceasefire mechanism to do their own checking. There is a report from the ceasefire committee about their own analysis,” government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel Ferrer said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
The photo is also being validated with the MILF, she added.
A copy of the report will be submitted to the Senate
Photos sent to Senator Grace Poe by Sulu Vice Governor Abdusakur Tan showed training and recruitment by MILF in Panglima Estino municipality in Sulu.
“I would like the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process to look into the said allegations as these developments have raised fears among ordinary citizens. The images show that high-powered firearms being used during training. These activities are provocative actions which are inimical to the security of our people. It also violates the implementing operational guidelines on the cessation of hostilities between the Philippine government and the MILF,” Poe said.
The photo had something to do with Sulu politics, Ferrer said.
“There are some identified personalities and some private armed groups in terms of weaponry. It’s very sensitive because of the nature of politics in the area,” she said, referring to “political alliance emerging in 2016.”
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said that it is not only political but political with a possibility of violence.
“Violence may break out between parties if information will be disclosed about the said photos,” she said.
It was the Western Mindanao Command that provided information on the photos.
MILF negotiating chairman Mohagher Iqbal, could not confirm the authenticity of the photos, which he said was first presented at a Congressional hearing last month.
“It merely states in that hearing showing the MILF is recruiting fighters in Sulu it doesn’t mean there were Abu Sayyaf,” he said.
He added that he was not given a copy of the photos to validate it with the MILF leadership.
“That area, that municipality is embroiled with political problems. There is ongoing misunderstanding among politicians in the area I think it has something to do with that,” he said.
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