Deposits of MILF exec still on ice

The Court of Appeals has denied for lack of merit the separate petitions of a senior official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and his wife to lift the freeze order the court had issued on their bank accounts.

The appellate court said that Edward Guerra, alias Abraham Alonto, and his wife Jocelyn did not present any new arguments to convince the court to reverse its Dec. 20, 2011, order freezing their bank deposits.

“A perusal of both motions for reconsideration … reveals that the respective arguments therein are practically a mere rehash of those which the (Guerras) had already propounded in their respective motions to lift the freeze order,” the court said.

The court said the Guerra couple’s arguments had already been “successfully and exhaustively disposed of by this court in its resolution sought to be reconsidered.”

Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Associate Franchito Diamante concurred in the ruling of Associate Justice Mariflor Punzalan Castillo.

A member of the MILF central committee, Guerra was accused of financing the activities in the Philippines of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror group. Marlon Ramos