Duterte asks MILF, MNLF: Don’t harbor Maute group
DAVAO CITY – With peace in Mindanao a priority, President Duterte yesterday begged the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) not to provide sanctuary to the Maute group – believed to be linked to extremist Middle Eastbased IS – or face “trouble.”
“So, I am pleading that I still want peace. I am earnestly asking the MNLF and the MILF not to provide sanctuary to terrorists in your territories,” the President said in his traditional “talk to men” at the Army’s 6th Infantry Division in Awang, Maguindanao.
“Do not provide them refuge. Because if that is the case that you allow them into your territory, then we will be forced to get into your territory and that will spell trouble,” he added.
“If you allow them into your territory, then I will order the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police to also enter your territories for we are in pursuit of these terrorists,” he warned.
The President was briefed on the security situation in Central Mindanao after which he visited soldiers wounded in skirmishes with local rebels in the province early this week.
And while the MILF is still awaiting the resumption of formal talks with government anytime soon, the MNLF has been raising concerns regarding its compromised peace agreement with the government.
The President facilitated Misuari’s coming out in the open late last year after a local court lifted a warrant for his arrest. Misuari led the Zamboanga City siege in 2013 that claimed the lives of over 200 people.
Duterte admitted that government could negotiate peace with the MNLF and the MILF and even with certain extremists but not with those linked to IS.
“I could talk even with extremists but not those contaminated by ISIS. That I could no longer control it,” Duterte said, referring to Islamic State’s other name.
In the same speech, Duterte again pushed for federalism, which he said would end strife in the region and pave the way for its sustainable development.
“Because If we do not give it to them or convert Mindanao into a federal system for the entire country for that matter, there will be no end (to conflict) and when I pass it on to my children and my children who are also Moro and Christians alike,” he added.
Duterte gave special citations to 12 soldiers wounded in an encounter Thursday with followers of the wanted mayor of Ampatuan town, Rasul Sangki, who is included in Malacañang’s list of narco-politicians.
Four followers of Sangki were killed while three others were wounded in the encounters in Barangays Saniag and Masalay in Ampatuan town on Thursday. The skirmishes displaced more than a hundred families in the two barangays.
The firefight erupted when followers of Sangki opened fire at combined police and Army teams that were about to serve him a warrant for his arrest.