A MILITARY general bared the “secret alliance” between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front during the House of Representatives probe on the Mamasapano debacle Tuesday.
Army Brigadier General Carlito Galvez Jr., government’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities head, said the military has a secret arrangement, which they called “Mushroom Diplomacy,” with the MILF even before the police raid in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that killed 67 persons.
The GPH-CCCH head said it has been a “strategy” of rebels, including the Abu Sayyaf Group, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and terrorist Zulkifli Bin Hir or “Marwan,” to go to the MILF areas for refuge.
“It’s because doon sila nakakapagtago and hindi suspicious na nandoon sila,” he said.
The Mamasapano raid that killed 67 persons marred the ongoing peace negotiation of the government with the MILF after the Moro group allegedly coddled Marwan, a bomb-making expert and Jemaah Islamiyah member who was the target of the operation.
“Kasi sa MILF, kapag nalaman ng kamag-anak nila na nagsasabi sila ng mga information sa amin, parang hindi kaaya-aya sa kanila ‘yung gano’n kaya nagkaroon kami ng secret arrangement,” he said.
The CCCH is comprised of members from the GPH and the MILF. It is a body tasked to monitor the implementation of the GPH-MILF Ceasefire Agreement and resolve complaints over ceasefire violations.
Proving the MILF’s sincerity in the peace deal, Galvez disclosed that thousands of Moro fighters left their residences amid the ongoing operation in Mindanao by the 6th Infantry Division.
“Hindi na nila nakikita yung family nila for almost 31 days. That’s the sincerity of the MILF,” he said.
He did not, however, reveal the exact location of the military operation. He also did not clarify whether the operation was against Marwan’s accomplice Abdul Basit Usman.
But Galvez said he believes that majority of the MILF, though not a hundred percent, and the central committee of the MILF is “really sincere in getting Marwan and Usman.” AC