Engineer Norie Unas, provincial administrator, said the rebels showed force in a secluded barangay in Talitay, a newly created town in the second district of the province, and prevented local officials from campaigning there.
"Until now, we don’t know what the purpose of the armed men was in converging in the area. The joint ceasefire committee must investigate to determine if, indeed, these men, as reported by local residents, are members of the MILF," Unas said.
Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said members of the "Sallam" (Peace) Unit, composed of Muslim soldiers, some of them missionaries, have been tasked to help Talitay officials defuse the tension spawned by the rebels’ presence.
Religious leaders in Maguindanao said they have been seeing MILF rebels moving from one place to another after learning about the scheduled arrival, most likely after the elections, of representatives of the Malaysian government to help oversee the ceasefire between government and separatist forces.
The Army’s 604th Infantry Brigade has fielded dozens of soldiers to Talitay and far-flung villages at the boundary of Shariff Aguak and Datu Piang towns to check reported sightings of suspected MILF rebels in farming communities there.
Sources in the peace and order council said heavily armed rebels were spotted the other day in Barangay Biyalung in Shariff Aguak, the hometown of re-electionist Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan.
Ampatuan is known for his deep-seated animosity toward the MILF, having lost a son, Mayor Datu Saudi Ampatuan, in a bomb attack allegedly perpetrated by the front’s Commander Rambo last Dec. 23.
During a dialogue here with military and police officials two weeks ago, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos said he is keen on involving the government and MILF peace panels in helping the Comelec ensure peaceful elections in areas where there are Moro rebel forces.
The Maguindanao police urged Abalos to hold the tabulation of May 10 election results from across the province at the headquarters here of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division due to alleged threats of sabotage from "armed groups and secessionist forces" hostile to many re-electionist officials.
Senior Superintendent Amerodin Hamdag, Maguindanao police director, told Abalos that MILF rebels threaten the peaceful conduct of elections in some areas of the province.
"We know for a fact that there are many rebel groups that are at odds with many of our political leaders in the province because of their all-out support for the security missions of the Maguindanao police and the 6th ID," Hamdag said.
Abalos, however, said the Comelec cannot decide on Hamdag’s recommendation without first consulting all political parties and concerned sectors.