Honasan warns gov’t vs MILF’s ‘psywar’ on ISIS

Sen. Gregorio Honasan FILE PHOTO

CLARK FREEPORT ZONE, Pampanga—The United Nationalist Alliance vice presidential bet Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan on Tuesday warned the government against the psychological warfare being waged by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in pushing for the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

In an interview with reporters at the Royce Hotel and Casino here, Honasan said the MILF only wanted leverage and to push for the passage of the BBL by warning the government on the presence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the country.

“What got the MILF in the first place to the negotiation table? The armed struggle, di ba (right)? They leveraged. O usap tayo, gusto niyo ulitin namin ung pinaggagagawa namin? Ang tawag naman dyan psywar (Let’s talk, do you want us to repeat what we have done? It is called psywar (or psychological warfare),” Honasan said of the MILF, which signed a peace deal with government.

“What we’re doing, unfortunately, to my mind, is we’re playing their game. Sina-psywar tayo (They are engaging us in a psychological warfare),” he added.

Honasan made such statement after MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim said the ISIS could gain ground in the country due to the Moro people’s frustrations over the Congress’ failure to pass the BBL, which would have created a more politically autonomous Bangsamoro region in Mindanao.

“They have a political objective. They have to say that. Ang sabi ko (I said), do you expect them to say otherwise na ‘Ah okay lang nadelay ang BBL, okay lang yan (It’s fine that BBL was delayed, it’s okay).’ They have to up the ante and rattle their sabers a little,” Honasan said.

Honasan said the MILF wanted to leverage itself to government to ensure that the BBL would still have chances of passing in the next administration.

The BBL was killed in the 16th Congress due to the lack of time to pass the said bill before the election period.

READ: Congress adjourns, fails to pass BBL

“We cannot use the MILF statement as a basis because they have to play that game. Otherwise, they lose their leverage. In their minds, pag hindi kami hardline ngayon, baka ung susunod na administrasyon imarginalize na kami. So dead in the water na yung BBL (In their minds, if we don’t take the hardline stance, the next administration might marginalize us. So the BBL is dead in the water),” Honasan said.

Honasan, a former rebel soldier, urged the government not to give conflicting information about the presence of ISIS in the country.

The military maintained there is no ISIS presence in the country and there is no link between ISIS and local sympathizers here, despite the MILF’s statement that the ISIS has attempted to recruit members in Mindanao.