Sub-state does not assure Minda peace

New Islamic army born of MILF vows to pursue total separation goal

(Exclusive to The Manila Times)

A PHILIPPINE government-Moro Islamic Liberation Front comprehensive peace agreement, even one granting the MILF demand for “a Moro sub-state, will not guarantee peace in Mindanao.

Even before the proposed peace agreement between the Philippine government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) could be finalized and signed, an Islamic rebel leader earlier described as a renegade by the MILF leadership, has declared that he will not be a part of any compromise with the government.

He said his army, the Bangasamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), will continue the struggle for secession and Islamic statehood.

Ameril Umbra Kato, a charismatic 72-year-old Islamist who gained notoriety for leading his 105th MILF Base Command in attacking civilian populated areas in North Cotabato in May to October 2008, has ignored orders from the MILF Central Committee led by Chairman Ebrahim Murad.

He totally closed the doors to reconciliation with Murad’s rebel organization, according to a highly reliable source who requested that he not be identified because he is based in the area.

This latest information confirming the split between Kato’s BIFF and the MILF confirmed what was earlier revealed by Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chairman Nur Misuari.

Misuari questions the Philippine government’s current talks with the MILF saying that Murad no longer has total control of the Islamic rebel group.

Misuari earlier said that 70 per cent of the remaining armed cadres of the MILF have shifted their loyalties to Umbra Kato. [Editor’s note: In a Manila Times roundtable, Chairman Misuari said most of the MILF fighters had returned to the MNLF. The MILF people are originally MNLF members who left the original rebel group to form the MILF.)

The source, however, said as of now only about 1,200 of the MILF’s main armed force of 5,000 fighters have joined the BIFF under Kato and these are mainly members of the 105th Brigade of the MILF and part of the 106th Brigade under Commander Adan.

Among the field commanders currently allied with Umbra Kato, a known protégé and favorite of former MILF Chairman Ustadz Hashim Salamat, are Commanders Abu Nawas, Karialong and Talyo. Commander Talyo has been described as one of the fiercest fighters of the MILF.

Currently based in Camp Omar, the seat of the 105th Brigade of the MILF and now the main camp of the BIFF, Umbra Kato’s armed forces operate in the Maguindanao towns of Guindulungan, Datu Piang, Talayan, Datu Saudi, Kabuntalan, Rajah Buayan, Mamasapano and Datu Salido.

“Right now, his sphere of influence is limited to these Maguindanao towns but the moment Kagi Murad and the MILF sign the peace agreement with the Philippine Government, that will mark the growth of the BIFF to a massive organization because even the extremist groups in Basilan including the Abu Sayyaf are expected to join Umbra Kato,” the source said.

Kato, who was born in Barangay Kitango, Datu Piang, is known for his strict adherence to the Sharia and a non-compromising extremist. He has declared he will never settle for anything less than total independence from the Philippines.

Educated in the Madina University in Saudi Arabia as one of the Marcos scholars in the 1960s, he was initially a member of the MNLF who was involved in Islamic propagation.

He came home to join Salamat when the MILF broke away from the MNLF as the government prepared to sign with Misuari’s group the Final Peace Agreement of 1996 and was considered a protégé of the former MILF Chairman.

While operating in Central Mindanao, Kato was allegedly involved with the recruitment of Islamic workers for the Middle East and this was done through several recruitment agencies that he established, the source said.

Workers recruited by these agencies have willingly contributed monthly to Kato’s war chest, he added.

“Kato has long been at odds with Murad, Jaafar and others who have been involved in the negotiations with the government. Murad and the others are being suspected of playing into the hands of America and Kato and the other extremists would have nothing of that,” the source said.

When Hashim Salamat died, Kato aligned himself with the other Islamists in the MILF especially Ustadz Shamir, brother of Salamat, and distanced themselves from the MILF Central Committee, the source said.

Unlike Murad, Kato maintained stronger links with international Islamic organizations like the Jemaah Islamiya and the Al Qaeda. These are parts of the global Islamic agenda of establishing a Pan-Islamic State consisting of the Southern Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Southern Thailand, the source added.

Kato’s relationship with the MILF Central Committee turned from bad to worse following the attacks before and after the MOA-AD controversy where the MILF leadership described his group as a renegade force and even offered to help government capture Umbra Kato and Commander Bravo of Lanao del Norte.

It further degenerated with the recent clash in Datu Piang between the troops of Umbra Kato’s field commander, Abu Nawas, and the MILF’s Commander Adzmie over a land conflict.

“Murad sent emissaries to Umbra Kato to patch up the problem but they were all turned down. Kato would not like to deal with Murad anymore,” the source said.

“As soon as an agreement is signed, Kato will get stronger and the government will have to address the BIFF problem again,” the source said.

He criticized the statement earlier issued by a top government (AFP) military officer that Kato as an insignificant breakaway group from the MILF and that the problem is an internal problem of the MILF.

“This is not an insignificant group and this is certainly not an internal problem of the MILF,” the source said.

Asked what are the proper steps to be undertaken to address the rebellion in the South, the source, a learned Muslim who has deeply studied the situation in the Southern Philippines, suggested that the government should avoid taking the road used in neutralizing the MNLF which is now the same route being used in addressing the MILF problem.

“All of these are focused on political solutions and the targets of the negotiations are the organizations and the rebel leaders. The problem with this is that former rebels more often than not do not have a development agenda aside from appeasing their fellow commanders so as not to create trouble anymore,” he said.

The source said a shift from a political formula to a socio-economic and rural development approach could work better given the situation on the ground.

“You go to the area now and you find the roads in bad shape and the people are hungry. Do you think they care what is being discussed in the peace negotiations? No, what they care about is where to get the food for the next meal,” he said.

The source said President Aquino would be losing a lot of ground if he goes by the formula being offered by the MILF of a sub-state because it will lead nowhere and it will also antagonize the non-Islam majority living in the areas identified by the MILF as the Bangsamoro Ancestral Domain. –MANNY PIÑOL, Manila Times