Lanao del Sur gov says MILF attackers 'new breed'

MANILA, Philippines - The rebels that launched an attack in Lanao del Norte were a “new breed" of Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels who did not really want to take over the province but only make a “political statement," the province’s governor said. In a radio interview, Lanao del Norte governor Mohammad Khalid Dimaporo said that the MILF rebels led by Abdullah Macapaar, who is also known as 'Commander Bravo,' attacked the province only to voice out their frustration over the stalling of the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between them MILF and the government. “I believe that their agenda was to make a political statement. What they did in Lanao del Norte was their political statement in response to the opposition of the MOA signing for ancestral domain," he said. Dimaporo said that the attackers had no intention of totally destroying and taking over the province, given the considerably small number of MILF rebels who swooped down the villages – about 1,500 according to the military. “If it was not a political statement and they really wanted to destroy the towns of Lanao del Norte, they really would have done more damage," Dimaporo said. Reports have placed the number of fatalities in the Lanao del Norte attack at a low of 23 civilians and three government soldiers to a high of 41. The governor added that these attackers from the supposed breakaway group were different from the MILF of the 1970s and 1980s, who had fought for a free Islamic state in Mindanao. “This new generation of MILF that is committing atrocities to Lanao del Norte and other parts of Mindanao is a generation composed of bandits who resort to kidnapping, extorting, carnapping, extortion activities, and illegal logging," he added. While saying that rebels in the top rung of MILF were “highly respected scholars and intellectuals," their subordinates on the ground in contrast are a different breed of people who resort to criminal acts to sow fear among locals. However, Dimaporo still expressed delight that the MILF rebels had already decided to pull out their forces in the province and in neighboring Sarangani. Dimaporo added that their local government still needs the help of the military to ensure the maintenance of peace and order in the region. “We need the military. The only way we can sleep soundly at night is for additional military forces in Lanao del Norte," he said. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV