UN Mindanao warns against impostor

COTABATO City, Philippines - The United Nations’ ad interim Mindanao security coordinator has warned residents of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) against “misrepresentations” by an impostor allegedly dealing with local sectors on UN’s behalf.

Arjun Jain, in a statement channeled through the ARMM’s Regional Communications Group, said a certain Xavier Daniel has been misrepresenting himself as an official of the UN while dealing with local groups and organizations involved in various peace-building projects in the south.

Military intelligence sources said Daniel has also been reportedly dealing clandestinely with people close to Nur Misuari, founder of the Moro National Liberation Front, promising to help them in their bid for Moro independence.

Jain is the UN’s Mindanao ad interim security coordinator, according to the ARMM ComGroup.

Jain said that Daniel is not a UN official.

“Mr. Xavier Daniel is falsely claiming to represent the United Nations in the Philippines, in particular in Mindanao. He has, in this false capacity, engaged with various persons and agencies in Mindanao,” Jain said.

Copies of Jain’s advisory had been forwarded to the Army’s 6th Infantry Division in Maguindanao and the ARMM police, which has jurisdiction over the region’s component provinces and cities.