Jihadist Ameril Ombra Kato still with MILF

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – The radical jihadist Ameril Ombra Kato has never been detached from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front despite his having organized his self-styled Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the new commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division said.

Brig. Gen. Rey Ardo, who assumed as 6th ID commander last Friday, told reporters that Kato, who reportedly bolted the MILF early this year due to differences with its central committee, still belong to the rebel group.

Ardo was chairman of the government’s ceasefire committee before he took over the division’s highest post from Major Gen. Anthony Alcantara, now deputy chief of the Armed Forces. Ardo, who belong to Class 81 of the Philippine Military Academy, said his assessment on Kato’s real posture now both as chief of the BIFF and as a member of the MILF, is based on feedback from various sectors in Central Mindanao, including the religious and political communities.

“He is still in the MILF,” Ardo told reporters, apparently referring to Kato.

Kato has been carrying a P10 million reward on his head for leading bloody attacks on farming communities in North Cotabato and Maguindanao after the aborted Aug. 5, 2008 crafting by the government and MILF of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain.

The document, which the Supreme Court declared “unconstitutional,” was the supposed basis for the grant of a territory to the MILF to be governed by its proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

Ardo said, as 6th ID commander, he will ensure the continuity of all peace-building projects of his predecessor that were designed to complement the Southern Mindanao peace process.

The MILF’s website, www.luwaran.net, earlier said emissaries have been sent to Kato to convince him to disband the BIFF and return to the fold of the rebel group.

The MILF’s chieftain, Al- Haj Murad, was even quoted in one report by the same website as saying Kato’s grievance with the front’s central leadership can be discussed peacefully if he intends to comeback, provided he will first disband the BIFF.