MILF: Group in Lanao not terrorists, disgruntled by peace deal’s fate

A top Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) official on Saturday denied that the armed men involved in clashes with the military in Butig, Lanao del Sur are terrorists.

"Butig ay napakalapit sa satellite office ng MILF. At itong ganitong pag atake at iba pang pag atake similar to what happened in Lanao del Sur, ang gumawa niyan hindi terrorista. They are not terrorist.  hindi extremist yan. Hindi mga radical na mga tao," MILF vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar told GMA News during the visit of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the group's Camp Darapanan in Maguindanao.

Jaafar said that the bandits encountered by the government troops are Moros disgruntled by the way the government handled the peace negotiations with the MILF.

"'Yan ay mga Moro at ginawa nila iyon sapagkat galit sila the way the Philippine government is handling the peace negotiation na laging pangako, pangako, pangako pero laging napapako yung mga pangako," the MILF official added.

Maj. Filemon Tan, spokesman of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, claimed that the group is led by brothers Abdullah and Omar Maute, who supposedly have links with the Southeast Asian regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah.

There were also reports that the Maute group was being assisted by supporters of the  Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Lt. Col. Billy dela Rosa, commander of the Philippine Army's 51st Infantry Battalion, said that they have overrun the stronghold of the Maute group at the heart of Butig town.

Dela Rosa said that 55 bandits have been killed in the clash.

The military, meanwhile, has suffered five fatalities.

BBL will stop fighting

Jaafar said that the MILF leadership may not be able to prevent its members based in nearby Camp Bushra and Camp Palestine should they decide to reinforce the group of Maute, citing blood relations.

"Eh kung uncle niya yung nakakasama sa pakikipaglaban siguro hindi kami pakikinggan kasi 'di ba may kasabihan tayo blood is thicker than water. Ganito nangyayari ngayon," he said.

He added that the only solution that the MILF sees to stop the clashes in Lanao del Sur is for the government "implement the Bangsamoro government."

The 16th Congress failed to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which would have paved the way for the establishment of a new autonomous Bangsamoro political entity, replacing the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Malacañang has said that the quest of the Aquino administration for peace in Mindanao will continue even without the BBL.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said that even without the BBL, the peace agreement signed by the MILF and the government is still binding.

President Benigno Aquino III and MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim signed the final peace agreement titled the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro on Mar. 27, 2014.

Part of the agreement was the decommissioning of the MILF's Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces on condition that the government will establish an autonomous Bangsamoro through the BBL. —Ian Cruz/ALG, GMA News