COTABATO CITY, Philippines—(UPDATE 2) The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is considering filing a complaint against the Philippine government after Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno tagged a Moro rebel commander as responsible for the kidnapping of Irish priest Michael Sinnott.

Mohagher Iqbal, Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief negotiator, said they were offended by Puno's naming of Aloy Al Ashree, commander of the MILF's 113th Brigade, as the one responsible for Sinnott's kidnapping because Al Ashree has been working hard to safely recover the priest from his abductors.

“We are considering filing a protest against Puno for making such irresponsible statement,” Iqbal told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview Wednesday.

The secessionist group will file the complaint before the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, Iqbal said.

He said it was unfair for the government to accuse Al Ashree of a crime when they should have first validated their information before making it public.

Puno’s statements, he said, further complicated matters on the ground.

With Puno’s statements, Iqbal said the MILF was having second thoughts about continuing its efforts to get the 79-year old ailing Irish priest back.

"We are asking our counterparts in the government to stop all these accusations. If Puno will not stop, then we will also stop helping secure the priest," Iqbal told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.

Iqbal said the MILF has been concerned about the priest’s health.

"We are concerned about the health condition of Sinnott... he underwent four heart bypass operations," he said.

He added that if something happened to Sinnott, Puno should be blamed.

Iqbal said the MILF has been in contact with diplomats of countries helping in the peace process and would not have done so if they had masterminded the kidnapping of Sinnott.

Asked why Puno linked the MILF to the abduction, Iqbal said the interior secretary has always been a hawk undermining the government’s peace efforts with the MILF.

He recalled that Puno was one of the engineers of the 2000 all-out war against the MILF, which the Estrada administration launched. Puno was also interior secretary during that time.

"Even from the previous administration, he (Puno) was always anti-peace talks and the one spoiling the negotiations," he said.

Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief, said Puno appeared to be using the Sinnott kidnapping to draw media attention and advance his political career.

"His statement was unbecoming. Before blaming the MILF in general in public, there should have been investigations first," Jaafar said.

Sinnott was the second European missionary kidnapped in the Southern Philippines during the past three years.

In 2007, Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi spent a month in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf.

As this developed, the Pontifical Institute for Missionary Missions (PIME), the order that Bossi belongs to, urged foreign missionaries in Mindanao to be extra careful in the light of the Sinnott kidnapping.

Fr. Peter Geremia, who works in the Diocese of Kidapawan in North Cotabato, said local officials had already offered them security escorts.

But he said he rejected the offer, saying "God and my parishioners are my security. I am confident that they will protect me from harm," Geremia said.

In Davao City, a peace advocate said blaming the MILF for the abduction of Sinnott would not solve anything and would just make matters worse.

"The situation doesn't call for finger-pointing. It will not definitely help but will instead jeopardize efforts to rescue Father Sinnott. We better focus on how to ensure that he is freed immediately, that he is safe. Let us not start efforts by blaming anyone as it will only worsen the situation...let us not put the cart before the horse," lawyer Mary Ann Arnado said.

Arnado is the secretary general of the Mindanao People's Caucus, one of the groups working to get the peace talks between the government and the MILF back on track.

Arnado, also the deputy executive director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue, criticized Puno for "blaming the MILF even without conducting a thorough investigation at all."

"For how can you easily possibly conclude?" said Arnado, who won the first World Vision International Peace Prize.

She suggested that the government work with all sectors in recovering the priest alive.

"This is not the first time that we have this kind of crisis. And we have learned from the previous experiences that only a well-coordinated rescue effort will be able to ensure the safety of the victims," Arnado said.

She said "the most effective way and the best thing to do now is to coordinate, especially with the MILF, which already offered its help."