JICA debunks reports MILF diverting funds

MANILA, Philippines – The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) debunked reports that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had been diverting foreign grants for peace and development in Mindanao to buy weapons and other military supplies for its fighters.

In an unsigned press statement, JICA said funds coursed through and handled by the MILF-controlled Bangsamoro Development Authority (BDA) are properly audited and all accounted for.

The JICA statement also said that BDA’s office is not located at Camp Darapanan but at Barangay Rosario Heights 5 in Cotabato City.

However, an informed source said the agency also maintains an office alongside that of the MILF at Darapanan, only three kilometers from the municipal center of Sultan Kudarat, Shariff Kabunsuan.

Even US Ambassador Kristie Kenney “was at the complex during her recent visit,” the source said.

He added that the BDA’s Camp Darapanan office is where foreign grants intended for developmental projects for depressed communities in Mindanao are reportedly being “massaged” by the MILF.

MILF spokesman lawyer Eid Kabalu, in a radio interview, denied this claim and said their group is not involved in any diversion of foreign grants.

Earlier, the World Bank (WB) also belied reports that its foreign grants for quick-impact projects for basic services in areas of conflict and depressed communities in Mindanao are being diverted by the MILF to procure weapons, munitions and uniforms for its fighters.  – Jaime Laude