COTABATO CITY, 7 May 2003 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday shrugged off a government bounty offer for the capture of its leaders as a “desperate” move which will lead to nothing.
Separatist spokesman Eid Kabalu said the 50-million reward offer, or an equivalent of close to $1 million, would be put to better use if its is given to civilians displaced by fighting in Central Mindanao.
“In Pikit alone more than 30,000 people have yet to go back to their homes despite pressure on them by local officials, the Social Welfare Department and the military,” he said.
“They continue to suffer in the evacuation center. In fact, more than 20 children have been registered dead due to lack of medicines and poor sanitation,” Kabalu added.
Close to 200,000 had been affected by the continuing military offensive in Central Mindanao since February, the rebel spokesman added.
The leaders included Salamat Hashim, chairman; Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim, vice chair for military affairs; Ghazali Jafaar, vice chair for political affairs; Aleem Abdulazis Mimbantas, vice chair for internal affairs, and spokesman Eid Kabalu.
Where to find the MILF leaders, however, is a question that no official could answer.
“I cannot answer that question right now but I believe they are just around,” Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, 6th Infantry Division chief, told the Inquirer.
Salamat is suspected to have left for abroad. Jaafar denied that.
“We did not hide abroad, we are Mindanaoans and we will stay here,” he said told the Inquirer in a mobile phone interview yesterday.
Asked where he could be found, Jaafar said: “We are just around the corner, including Chairman Salamat.”
“We have been expecting these things to happen because we are revolutionaries,” he said of the reward money and warrants.
Kabalu said they were not hiding. “We are not hiding, nag-iingat lang (we are just being cautious),” he said.
This is not the first time a bounty has been offered for the MILF leaders’ heads. The Estrada administration put up 5 million pesos for Salamat’s head, 4 million pesos for Murad and 1 million pesos each for Jaafar and Kabalu. They were charged with multiple-murder and frustrated multiple-murder after MILF guerrillas attacked civilian communities in Central Mindanao.
An MILF source said police and soldiers were finding it difficult to arrest Salamat and other members of the MILF Central Committee because of the support of some government officials and local government units to the MILF cause.
In 1988, Murad was reportedly arrested with his men by army soldiers manning a checkpoint somewhere in Lanao del Sur. But he was immediately released unharmed through the intercession of a general.
No reason was given for the group’s release although the Arroyo government had been trying to use kids’ gloves on the MILF in an attempt to attract them to the peace table.
