MILF seeks justice for members slain in Mamasapano

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) wants justice for 18 of its fighters and five civilians killed during the shootout in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that left 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos dead last Jan. 25.

In an interview with GMA-7, MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal said they also felt the pain of the grieving families of the slain commandos.

“Justice should not only be on the part of government troops, but also in the Bangsamoro,” he said.

Iqbal also said Muslims and Indonesians can travel freely from Davao del Sur to Indonesia and vice versa without a visa, and it was hard to determine who is a foreign terrorist.

“The (Indonesians) are our brothers, especially for the Muslims because they are also Malay,” he said. “We are only according them the Bangsamoro hospitality. We don’t know what they are doing.”

He issued the statement amid reports that an Indonesian was among those killed with the MILF in Mamasapano.

“The MILF has no links with the terrorist groups like the Jemaah Islamiyah,” he said.

Iqbal insisted the ‘misencounter’ between the SAF and the MILF was a result of lack of proper coordination.

“Sincerity is in the state of mind,” he said.

“It is not easy to prove unless there is an incident. We were the ones attacked in 2001, 2003 and 2008. What happened here (Mamasapano) was there was no coordination. The last encounter between MILF and military was in 2011 in Al Barka. No coordination also when the military are pursuing the Abu Sayyaf. Since then, there was no encounter except for the Jan. 25, 2015 incident. We need coordination there.” 

Iqbal said MILF chairman Al Haj Murad has not issued any statement yet on the Mamasapano shootout as the MILF board of inquiry is conducting its own investigation to prevent the same incident from happening again.

“The investigation of the MILF is for internal purpose to know the truth and to prevent what  happened on Jan. 25,” he said. “The MILF will issue an executive report.” 

The MILF has signed the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group accord to help the government arrest criminal elements hiding in MILF lairs, Iqbal said.