No MILF satellite camp in Tupi, says mayor

KORONADAL CITY — The mayor of a nearby municipality has denied reports that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has established a "satellite camp" in one of the town’s remote barangays.

"Walang satellite camp ng MILF dito (There is no MILF satellite camp here). We will not allow them to establish whatever camp here," Mayor Valentin Mariano of Tupi, South Cotabato told The STAR in a phone interview yesterday.

Reports said residents of Sitio Bunawan in Barangay Polonoling, Tupi town have complained about the presence of heavily armed men, suspected to be MILF members, in their community.

Their complaint has reached the Tupi municipal council, which reportedly urged the police and military authorities to check if there was, indeed, an MILF camp in the barangay.

After he himself received the complaint, Mariano said he, together with the members of the international monitoring team, immediately went to the area.

"Wala kaming nakitang kampo doon (We did not see any camp there). The members of the monitoring team can (attest to that). What they saw were just passing armed men," he said.

He, however, did not confirm if the armed men, reportedly led by Kumander Jackson Moro, were MILF members.

The international monitoring team is helping the government oversee the ceasefire between the military and the MILF.