ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front raised an alarm over what it branded as heavy presence of government forces in an “MILF community” in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, since Friday.
In a statement posted on its website, the MILF said the arrival of the soldiers in Barangay Tenan sparked tension in the village.
“We are looking into that right now,” MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told the Inquirer.
The MILF said the village is populated by its members, including those from the 113th Base Command of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF).
In a similar statement, the MILF’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) said it was not consulted when the deployment was made.
“What is very clear with us is that no coordination was made by the government on this unusual movement and deployment of government forces,” the MILF’s CCCH said.
Under the terms of the peace process, police and military actions in identified rebel territories had to be coordinated with the MILF.
Ipil Mayor Eldwin Alibutdan confirmed the presence of government security forces in Tenan.
“They were there to look for the suspects in the kidnapping of the mayor of Salug town (in Zamboanga del Norte),” he said.
Brigadier General Rainier Cruz, commander of the 1st Infantry Divison, said the deployment of soldiers in Tenan was part of the joint military and police search-and-rescue operation for Salug mayor Jeffrey Lim.
Lim was snatched on April 2 at the public terminal of Salug by a group of armed men.
Cruz denied the MILF’s CCCH claim that the operation was not coordinated with the rebels.
“We have coordinated fully with our CCCH and we are running after lawless elements and not members of the MILF,” he said.
But he added that even if there was no coordination, the government would not be violating anything because Tenan was not an identified MILF territory under the peace process.
As to why the area of operation in the Lim case now includes Tenan, which is in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, he said one of Lim’s aides identified some suspects, who were previously seen in the village.
“It turned out that those suspects are hiding in that area of Tenan,” he said.