Palace clears MILF in kidnap

Malacañang cleared the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday of any complicity in the abduction of Italian priest Giuseppi Pierantoni in Zamboanga del Sur.

"They (the MILF) does not really allow such a (kidnapping)," said Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Eduardo Ermita, adding that the government has no reason to suspect that the MILF was clandestinely supporting the "Pentagon gang" which was behind the abduction.

Ermita said the MILF has shown its sincerity in the ongoing peace talks, noting that it even helped in negotiating the release of Chinese nationals whom the Pentagon gang had held hostage.

This developed as the Zamboanga del Sur diocese remains uncertain about Pierantoni’s whereabouts, although reports said he is now being held captive somewhere in Kapatagan, a coastal town in Lanao del Sur.

The diocese has sent provisions, including shoes and medicines, for Pierantoni through emissaries who themselves were unsure if they could deliver them to the kidnapped priest

"We have no confirmation yet if the supplies have been delivered to Fr. Pierantoni," Zamboanga del Sur Bishop Zacarias Jimenez told Catholic radio station dxMS in Cotabato City. He did not elaborate.

He said their sending of provisions to Pierantoni was a "virtual gamble" and that they were unsure he would get it.

"Until now, we are confused. There are mixed reports on his (Pierantoni’s) whereabouts. We are praying hard that his captors will release him soon so he can resume his missionary work," he said.

Last Monday, Faisal Marohomsar, a key leader of the Pentagon gang, tagged a foreign-trained MILF commander as the one holding Pierantoni captive in a forested area in Pualas, Lanao del Sur.

Marohomsar, the known counterpart of Pentagon gang leader Tahir Alonto in Lanao del Sur, said Pierantoni was turned over to one Commander Maca—umbao last week by the 10 MILF members who snatched him in Dimataling, Zamboanga del Sur last Oct. 17.