COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao, Philippines -- (UPDATE) A non-government organization identified with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has received P21-million from the World Bank, an MILF leader said Saturday.
The release of the fund came in the wake of claims by unidentified sources, which some newspapers except the Inquirer have reported on, that the Bangsamoro Development Agency has been buying firearms on behalf of the Moro rebel group.
North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol said the World Bank assistance to the BDA, despite reports it was engaged in weapons procurement for the rebel group, was "questionable."
"Why would the World Bank give funding to a rebel organization that we even wanted tagged as terrorist? I don't know what the WB intention is," Piñol told the Inquirer by phone.
But Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, told the Inquirer that the money will be used for the rehabilitation of projects destroyed by the renewed armed conflict in Maguindanao and other areas.
He said it was impossible for the BDA, headed by Danda Juanday, to divert the money to arms procurement as the development NGO does not even handle funds in the first place.
Besides, Iqbal said the BDA was not put up to beef up the MILF's armory.
He said the BDA, which was put up in connection with the peace process, only coordinates with other people's organizations for the implementation of development projects in conflict areas.
"We and the WB will also closely monitor the implementation of the projects. The BDA will not handle the money," he said.
The WB also dismissed reports that the BDA uses World Bank and other funds to buy firearms for the MILF.
A similar denial was also issued by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), which also assists the BDA in the implementation of social projects in conflict-affected areas.
"It's up to them. The WB is in a better position to assess their projects," Piñol said.
As this developed, the military said sporadic firefights continued in Maguindanao and the latest took place while Armed Forces chief General Alexander Yano was visiting the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division in Shariff Kabunsuan on Friday.
Colonel Julieto Ando, spokesperson of the 6th Infantry Division, said three soldiers were wounded while 19 MILF rebels were killed in the clashes that occurred in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town starting at mid-afternoon on Friday.
Ando said the clashes, which lasted until late in the night, started when Moro rebels attacked an outpost of the Army's 64th Infantry Battalion near the village of Tee around 2 p.m.
With more MILF rebels reinforcing, he said the military called in air support to push back the advancing rebels.
Ando said the military also used artillery against the rebels.
Colonel Marlou Salazar, commander of the Army's 601st Infantry Brigade, said MILF forces under Ameril Ombra Kato have shifted to hit-and-run tactics because their supply of ammunition was running low.
Since August, the military has been pounding rebel positions in the marshy areas of Maguindanao following MILF attacks that killed nearly a dozen civilians in Aleosan and Pikit towns in North Cotabato.
A similar operation is also being conducted in the Lanao areas against MILF leader Abdullah Macapaar alias Commander Bravo for allegedly attacking several towns in Lanao Del Norte, also in August.
More than 60 civilians have been killed since the renewed fighting erupted, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council. The new wave of violence was triggered by the cancellation of signing ceremonies for the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the MILF last August 5.
About 600,000 individuals were also displaced in the affected provinces.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the number of evacuees continues to swell as punitive government actions against Kato and Bravo continue.
