Probe ‘MILF camp’: Rufus

By BEN BALCE
Correspondent

CAGAYAN de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez yesterday sounded alarm bells even as he called on the Armed Forces to look into an alleged Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camp supposedly being used in training recuits in an outlying village near the boundaries of Iligan and Talakag in Bukidnon.

A Camp Alagar official also expressed alarm while the commander of the Army’s 4th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in Iligan called the camp “illegal.”

The pronouncements came even as an official of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) concluded that the camp was not the MILF’s, and that the alleged recruitment and training of Higaonon tribesmen into the ranks of the Front was a “scam.”

Mindanews quoted MILF-CCCH chief Rashid Lidasan as saying, “Our investigation disclosed that a certain Abdul Amoran is behind the scam to swindle the Higaonon tribesmen. He is also responsible of putting a tarpaulin outside his house announcing this was the headquarters of the MILF 103rd Infantry Brigade.”

But Rodriguez said the military still needed to look deeper in the wake of claims of officials in Iligan City that the MILF was behind the training camp in Barangay Rogongon, a hinterland Iligan village near Talakag, Bukidnon.

This week, Iligan Rep. Vicente Belmonte Jr. said he received information that the MILF was training people in Rogongon, and that the recruits, many Higaonon, were promised remuneration if the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is passed by Congress.

Belmonte’s pronouncements came after Col. Gilbert Gapay, commander of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, brought the alleged MILF camp in Rogongon to the attention of Iligan officials during a peace and order council meeting.

“It is quite alarming because it is outside their (MILF) area,” said Rodriguez. “This will be seen as a creeping a territorial expansion.”

Rodriguez, chairman of the House ad hoc committee that is working to pass the proposed BBL, warned that concerns raised in Iligan could further erode the public’s trust on the MILF as a “peace partner” because the effect is, the Front is “quietly building camps in areas not under its control.”

“It is not good that we have a ceasfire, and yet they are training people to be part of the MILF,” Rodriguez said.

He said there has already been a significant loss of trust on the MILF after the Jan. 25 Mamasapano carnage in Maguindanao, and reports about an alleged MILF training camp outside the proposed Bangsamoro territory would add to that.

“These should be in violation of the ceasefire agreement and the peace process,” said Rodriguez.

He said he was concerned because in the proposed law, areas contiguous to the Bangsamoro can hold a plebiscite for inclusion in the territory if at least 10 percent of local voters favor it.

“Rogongon is one of the nine barangays that are contiguous to the Armm,” said Rodriguez.

He noted that Rogongon can be reached via Talakag, a Bukidnon town next to Cagayan de Oro.

“It’s far from the Iligan city proper but nearer to Talakag and Cagayan de Oro. That’s dangerous. That is the problem,” he said.

He said the establishment of MILF camps in areas not part of the envisioned Bangsamoro region would not only violate the ceasefire agreement but would also convince more people that the Front was determined to carry out a “creeping expansion.”

Rodriguez said a number of congressmen were pushing for the removal of the so-called “opt-in” provision in the proposed BBL.

Col. Anton Abrina, commander of the Army’s 4th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, questioned the existence of the camp at Sitio Limonsodan, Barangay Rogongon, Iligan City.

“It is illegal as Iligan City is not a part of Lanao del Sur,” said Abrina. Lanao del Sur is a part of the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) and the envisaged Bangsamoro region.

Abrina also said the alleged MILF recruitment was in violation of the ceasefire agreement, adding that Rogongon and the camp are not among the areas and MILF camps acknowledged in the government and MILF agreement.

He however called on the public to keep calm, explaining that the matter has already been brought to the attention of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp), and that the ceasefire committee was already looking into it.

“The government is doing something about this. There will be a tripartite investigation on this matter,” said Abrina.

He said Rogongon is under his jurisdiction, and soldiers under his command reported to him the existence of the training facility.

Abrina said a Higaonon, Deodado Abugan Sr., also lodged a complaint in connection with the Rogongon camp because of the presence of armed men in the area.

“The villagers made an official complaint, and requested the intervention of the military, and we have confirmed it,” he said.

The area, according to Abrina, is being claimed as part of the ancestral domain of Higaonons.

He said it was Abugan who first brought the matter to the attention of the Iligan city council.

Based on a report, Abrina said, the training camp was under the MILF’s 103rd Base Command under Abdul Sango Amoran of the 305th Guerrilla Unit, the same man MILF-CCCH Lidasan alleged was a scammer.

“Yes, it is alarming,” said Camp Alagar spokesman Supt. Gervacio Balmaceda. “The best thing we can do is, the community and authorities should closely monitor the activities there, and make sure the reports would reach government for appropriate action… We will also require lower (police) units to investigate further.”