MILF recruiting Sayyaf members?

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is reportedly recruiting Abu Sayyaf bandits and building up arms, according to Sulu Gov. Abdulsakur Tan.

Tan sent Sen. Grace Poe photos to bolster his claim about the MILF’s recruitment and training of the bandits in the town of Panglima Estino in Sulu, as well as the establishment of an MILF camp in that town.

Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, said she asked the Office of the Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process to look into the allegations.

“The images show high-powered firearms being used during training. These activities are provocative actions, which are inimical to the security of our people. It also violates the implementing operational guidelines on the cessation of hostilities between the Philippine government and the MILF,” she said.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, however, warned that “violence may break out between parties if the information will be disclosed about the photos.”

Senate President Franklin Drilon appeared skeptical when government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer invoked confidentiality regarding the photos.

In the continuation yesterday of the Senate hearing on the Mamasapano incident, Drilon asked Ferrer and Deles what the panel did upon learning about the MILF’s alleged continuous build-up of arms amid the peace negotiations.

Deles said she asked the panel’s people on the ground to validate the veracity of the report and photos.

“I sent the message to the member of the secretariat of the MILF to validate. These are allegations against them. Usually, with allegations like that, we always ask the MILF,” she said. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Christina Mendez