Cops, Army disarm 35 heavily armed MILF members in Maguindanao

DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao—Police and soldiers attending to a checkpoint in this town disarmed Monday night 35 heavily armed Moro rebels for not coordinating their movement with government forces.

The military said it was a violation of the 1997 agreement on the cessation of hostilities between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Colonel Jibin Bongcayao, Maguindanao police director, said soldiers and police were conducting checkups when a convoy arrived, aboard a pickup truck as lead car and two commuter vans.

“These vehicles were loaded with men in fatigue uniforms and armed with long and short firearms,” Bongcayao said.

Bongcayao said the men in full battle gear declared they were MILF members belonging to the 105th base command.

For lack of coordination, government forces took the MILF fighters and their 35 firearms into custody “pending coordination with the GPH (government of the Philippines) and MILF peace panels,” Bongcayao said.

“We are preparing complaints before the peace panels about this violation,” he added.

Under the 1997 ceasefire agreement, the MILF armed personnel movement must be coordinated with state forces.

The same agreement state that government forces should also coordinate with the MILF if the troop movement is in areas identified as rebel communities.

MILF leader Abdul Hamid Datuan said they were heading to Talitay, Maguindanao from Mother Kabuntalan, where they attended a religious gathering.

“The MILF did not resist arrest and politely obeyed the checkpoint protocols,” Bongcayao said.

They are now in custody in the 2nd Mechanized Battalion in Talayan, Maguindanao.

The MILF has yet to issue a statement on the incident.

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