MILF-NPA alliance in existence since 1999 - AFP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A military official on Wednesday confirmed the alliance forged by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with the New People’s Army (NPA) in Mindanao. According to Col. Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army’s Civil Military Operations, the formal link between the communist rebels and the MILF has been in existence as early as 1999. “The written agreement covers, among others, exchange of information, sharing of training, manufacture of arms and ammunition - particularly rocket-propelled grenades," Lucero said. He said this explains why the Mindanao-based NPA rebels were reported to have used anti-tank rockets, loaned by the MILF, in battling government soldiers. He also said there were many occasions that MILF forces had disrupted military operations against the NPA in the past. "Government troops had monitored, in many occasions that MILF forces had been utilized to act as blocking force to NPA's terror offensives, particularly in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato and South Cotabato," he said. National Police chief Dir. Gen. Avelino Razon, for his part, said another indication of the MILF-NPA alliance is the absence of statement from the communist guerillas denouncing the recent atrocities of the Moro rebels where innocent civilians were killed and their houses burned. Razon said the tactical alliance was convenient for the rebel groups as they could launch their diversionary attacks against the government easily. Due to this, he said the police and the Philippine Army have been conducting joint operations to prevent the tactical attacks that would come from either the NPA or the MILF. - with Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV