PAGADIAN CITY?The claim of Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had a hand in the abduction of Fr. Michael Sinnott is ?cheap propaganda? and an affront to the peace process, the separatist group said Wednesday.
In a statement posted on its website, the MILF accused Puno and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro of constantly ?stabbing us in the back.? It said this was frustrating its effort to recover the Irish missionary ?for the sake of justice, humanity, goodwill and friendship.?
The MILF said it was paying ?very special attention? to the Sinnott kidnapping because of the personal appeal relayed to it by Irish Ambassador Richard O?Brien during a meeting with its leaders last month in Camp Darapanan, Maguindanao.
?Whoever is subjected to an evil act deserves to be helped in every way possible,? the rebel group said.
Puno claimed on Tuesday that it was the MILF 113th Base Command led by Aloy Al Ashree that abducted Sinnott in the compound of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban in Pagadian on Oct. 11.
Thus, Puno said, the government would no longer accept the MILF offer to help rescue the 79-year-old missionary.
Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF chief negotiator in the peace talks with the government, took offense at Puno?s claim and said Al Ashree was actually trying to have Sinnott freed.
According to Iqbal, the MILF is now thinking of abandoning the search effort for Sinnott.
?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.
In a separate phone interview with reporters at Camp Aguinaldo, Iqbal said the MILF was considering filing a protest over Puno?s ?irresponsible? statement with the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities.
?Surface? him
On Wednesday, however, the government appeared still agreeable to the MILF offer of help.
According to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, the government has been ?encouraged? by the MILF statement that it was also taking steps to find Sinnott and help rescue him.
?It?s important that we have such a statement coming from the leadership of the MILF because that means there?s still goodwill,? Ermita told reporters in Malacańang.
But he said the MILF should ?surface? Al Ashree, whose command is reportedly still holding the missionary hostage.
?If I were the MILF leadership?especially in this case, it?s [civic-military affairs chief] Eid Kabalu who is making the statement?perhaps as a show of goodwill, they should surface Commander Ashree,? Ermita said, adding:
?I wish they will do that to prove their sincerity in the effort.?
Ermita said suspicions that the separatists had a hand in the abduction were borne out by the Philippine National Police?s finding that the site of the kidnapping was only ?about 1 to 2 kilometers? away from an MILF base command.
But he said the government could not ignore Kabalu?s statement that the MILF was ?exerting efforts? to recover Sinnott, and would continue to accept its offer of help.
?We give them the benefit of the doubt that they are serious in their offer to help recover Father Sinnott,? Ermita said when asked if he thought the MILF was engaged in double-talk.
?Let?s give them a chance, and let?s see what happens in the next week or so,? he said.
?We are confident that they are sincere. I?m sure they?re aware of the consequences of their actions if they renege on their pronouncement. The onus will be on them.?
No rush to judgment
Amid the highly charged discourse, the spokesperson of the Zamboanga del Sur Crisis Management Committee (CMC) clarified that as far as it was concerned, the claim of MILF involvement in the kidnapping was not conclusive.
Allan June Molde said the information used by Puno as basis for his claim was the same available to and being considered by the CMC, which is chaired by Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Aurora Cerilles.
The military, through the Army?s 1st Infantry Division, and the PNP?s Task Force Zebra work under the direction of and report tactical information to the CMC.
?A lot of the information ? pertains to MILF responsibility. But we are very careful not to rush to judgment because this is still largely unverified,? Molde said.
He said the CMC was also conscious of the possible impact on the peace process of premature tagging of the MILF in the abduction.
According to Molde, what is categorical is where Sinnott was taken and is being held?a jungle lair between Sapad and Nunungan towns of Lanao del Norte and Sultan Gumander town of Lanao del Sur.
The MILF was tagged in the kidnapping because the place where Sinnott is being held is within its area of influence. ?So it follows that they could be responsible for the act,? he said.
Nevertheless, the CMC is bound to toe the Puno line ?because they might have some information not available to us,? Molde said.
?We just hope all these redound to hastening the recovery of Father Sinnott,? he said.
?Against peace talks?
Iqbal said the MILF was working to have Sinnott freed because it was concerned about his heart condition.
If something happens to the priest, Puno should be blamed, he said.
Iqbal said the MILF had been in contact with diplomats of countries helping in the peace process and that it would be like betraying them if the group indeed had a hand in the abduction.
Asked why Puno was linking the MILF to the kidnapping, Iqbal said: ?Even during the [Estrada] administration [where he was also interior secretary], he was always against peace talks and the one spoiling the negotiations.?
Iqbal also said Puno was one of the engineers of the all-out war launched by the Estrada administration against the MILF in 2000.
MILF political affairs chief Ghadzali Jaafar said Puno appeared to be using the Sinnott kidnapping to advance his political career.
?His statement was unbecoming. Before blaming the MILF in general in public, there should have been an investigation,? Jaafar said.
In Davao City, lawyer Mary Ann Arnado criticized Puno for ?blaming the MILF even without [an inquiry].?
She said blaming the MILF for Sinnott?s abduction would only ?jeopardize efforts to rescue? him.
?The situation doesn?t call for finger-pointing ... We better focus on how to ensure that he is freed immediately, that he is safe. Let us not blame anyone as it will only worsen the situation,? she said.
Arnado is the secretary general of the Mindanao People?s Caucus, a group working to get the peace talks between the government and the MILF back on track, and the winner of the first World Vision International Peace Prize.
?The best thing to do now is to coordinate [efforts], especially with the MILF, which already offered its help,? she said.
?Our own actions?
Ermita said that in being agreeable to the MILF offer to help, the government was not necessarily dismissing Puno?s report.
?We believe what has been discussed by Secretary Puno because the source of it is PNP intelligence. But it does not prevent us from undertaking our own actions to constrict the movements of those who took Father Sinnott into custody,? he said.
Ermita also clarified that the MILF role in any rescue mission was to coordinate its forces? movement with those of the military or police.
Asked if the military and police would be the lead groups in any operation, he said: ?They have their orders to conduct pursuit operations against the perpetrators.?
Ermita said the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group?composed of representatives of the government and the MILF and assigned to ensure that the separatists would not provide sanctuary to criminal elements?would facilitate this.
?The good thing about this is that there?s pressure for them to release [Sinnott] because the MILF leadership has publicly declared that it is also helping in the efforts,? he said.
Rescue mechanism
In Zamboanga City, Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, the chief of the Western Mindanao Command, said government forces would not clash with the MILF over the common goal of rescuing Sinnott.
?We have established the mechanism and guidelines. It is just a matter of both parties complying with these,? he said.
At Camp Aguinaldo, military spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. told reporters that turning down the MILF offer to help would give the troops on the ground ?a free hand? in finding Sinnott.
Brawner said if the MILF were allowed to help in the rescue operation, the chance of a ?mis-encounter? between its fighters and government troops would be higher.
?It will be more complicated, so we are supporting the [statement] of Interior Secretary Puno,? he said. With reports from Jocelyn R. Uy in Manila; Jeoffrey Maitem, Jeffrey Tupas, Williamor Magbanua and Richel Umel, Inquirer Mindanao
