MILF commander has a P10-M mansion - Army

MANILA, Philippines — An Army official in Mindanao on Saturday accused leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of living luxurious lives, while their fighters wallow in poverty. Col Jonathan G Ponce, G7 and spokesman Army’s 6th Infantry Division based in Maguindanao, issued the statement as he announced the capture of supposed MILF camp in the town of Talitay. Ponce said the satellite camp at the vicinity of Barangay Pagada was overrun by combined elements of the Army’s 46th and 69th infantry battalions at 12:45 p.m. Friday. He said the camp was a forward and perimeter defense to a nearby mansion and a rest house owned by Ameril Umbra Kato, one of three MILF commanders being hunted by government forces in connection with “The unfinished mansion is worth 10 million pesos. Conclusion: the leaders of the MILF live in lavish and extravagant way while their followers and their families remain poor as they are with no adequate food and medicines to sustain their living," Ponce said in the statement. The MILF had no immediate reaction. The MILF is the largest Moro armed group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the southern Philippines. (- With Katrina Elaine Alba, GMANews.TV