Court orders arrest of vice mayor, 2 MILF commanders

COTABATO CITY — The court has ordered the arrest of the vice mayor of Datu Piang, Maguindanao and two commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in connection with the Dec. 24 bombing that killed the town’s mayor and 17 other people.

The MILF has still denied any role in the blast, and described as "unfair" calls by various sectors for it to cooperate with authorities in arresting the people responsible for the carnage.

Regional Trial Court Judge Reno Concha has ordered the arrest of Datu Piang Vice Mayor Benny Boy Mokalid and MILF commanders Garry Dagandal and Taoti Kawan, alias Rambo, among other people.

"It’s absolutely not fair for the MILF to be obliged to do something for a case it has nothing to do with," Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, told Catholic radio station dxMS.

Jaafar said the issue is best left to the government-MILF’s committee on cessation of hostilities to resolve.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu earlier confirmed that Kawan, alias Commander Rambo, tagged as the bombing’s mastermind, is an MILF member although he clarified that Kawan has long been assigned to an area far away from Datu Piang and its surrounding towns.

Jaafar said it is inappropriate to urge the MILF to turn over Kawan, Dagandal and their men to the police because the MILF, as an organization, did not order the bombing, the worst-ever in Datu Piang’s 80-year history.

While the government and MILF peace panels forged on May 6, 2002 in Malaysia an understanding on joint anti-crime thrusts in areas where MILF forces are scattered, Jaafar said both sides have not activated the mechanisms to enforce it.

The other day, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division fielded 50 plainclothes agents in strategic spots in Maguindanao to hunt down the bombing suspects.

Mokalid has branded as "politically-motivated" his inclusion in the court’s arrest warrant which RTC-Branch 14 issued last Jan. 15. He did not elaborate.

Mokalid has denied any involvement in the bombing, claiming that the provincial government has just been doing its best to prevent him from assuming as Datu Piang mayor, left vacant with the death of Mayor Saudi Ampatuan, son of Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan.

President Arroyo, who was in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Tuesday, ordered the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police to continue their manhunt for the bombers.

Provincial administrator Norie Unas said the governor’s office has nothing to do with the filing of charges against Mokalid and the other bombing suspects.

"The filing of criminal charges against them was an outcome of an extensive and joint investigation by the police and the military. The provincial government is not even the complainant," he said.

Unas downplayed as "preposterous" Mokalid’s insinuation that the Ampatuans are doing everything to stop him from taking over as Datu Piang mayor.

Seven months before the bombing, Unas said Mokalid had been absent from his office, which the 10-member provincial board is now investigating.