MILF will not surrender members in Mamasapano clash

 

In an interview aired over GMA News TV's "State of the Nation," MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said his group would instead impose sanctions on its members, who engaged in a clash with PNP-Special Action Force (SAF) officers last January 25.

 

"If you look at the ceasefire agreement of the government and the MILF, what it says there, any breach of discipline on the side of the government, the government will discipline their forces," Iqbal said.

 

"In the same way that if there is a breach of discipline on the part of the MILF, the MILF will take charge," he added.

PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director-General Leonardo Espina has repeatedly asked for an explanation from the MILF for what he called the "overkill" of the commandos. He pointed to indications that some of the officers were finished off despite already being wounded and down.

In a congressional hearing before a committee of the House of Representatives, Espina said one officer was shot twice in the head. 

 

The implementing guidelines of the ceasefire agreement signed by the MILF and the Philippine government in 1997 state that the parties "will make appropriate actions on their respective forces" who violate the pact.

 

Iqbal further said that turning over MILF members to the government will devalue his group.

 

"It is very difficult on our part na itu-turnover namin ang pwersa namin. Mawawalan kami ng saysay," he said.

 

GMA News Online contacted presidential peace adviser Sec. Teresita Deles for comment on Iqbal's statement, but she has yet to respond as of posting time.

 

Mamasapano clash

 

On January 25, 44 PNP-SAF members were killed in a firefight with the MILF and its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). 

 

The clash occurred despite a peace deal signed by the MILF and the Philippine government last year.

 

The police commanders supposedly entered an MILF-controlled area to arrest Filipino bomb maker Abdulbasit Usman and Malaysian terrorist Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan,” who government authorities said was killed in the operation and whose DNA sample from confirmed by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

Iqbal earlier said MILF members only defended themselves during the incident. He added that government forces did not inform their group about the operation. 

 

Last month, President Benigno Aquino III said that he expected the MILF to identify its members involved in the Mamasapano clash. 

 

MILF probe results

 

Iqbal also said that the results of the MILF probe on the Mamasapano incident are only for his group, and will only be released upon request.

 

He added that the MILF is already 90 to 95 percent done with its probe on the encounter.

 

Iqbal also disagreed with the idea of a joint probe between the MILF and the government on the Mamasapano clash.

 

"I don't think that would be a good decision. Let it be. Whatever the findings of the Board of Inquiry, Let it stand. In the same way, whatever the findings of the MILF investigative team will put forward, let it stand," he said.

 

At a press briefing in Malacañang, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte however said the government expects to be furnished a copy of the MILF's report.

 

She also maintained that the administration still considers the MILF as its partner in the peace process.

 

"At this point, we all want to be for peace because we know the costs of not having peace and just having war. So at this point, we will continue to stay the course, at least for this peace," she told reporters on Friday afternoon. —Andreo Calonzo/NB, GMA News