MILF: Don't blame us

MILF: Stop blaming us

Fed up by the usual rhetoric of the government of being blamed in the series of atrocities in Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesperson Eid Kabalu said the military appears to be unreasonable in their statements.

Kabalu said that the MILF has nothing to do with the bombings in the region and blaming them will only aggravate the situation.

“As far as the MILF leadership is concerned we have nothing to do with the bombing. It will not contribute in any matter to the just cause of the MILF. [We are saddened with the reports] that the military is already preempting that the MILF is behind all the atrocities in the region,” Kabalu told DCherald by phone.

Kabalu also made an appeal to the military to be non-discriminatory to the MILF command after the Armed Forces’ Public Information Office issued statements that suspected members of the MILF are behind the attacks in Mindanao lately.

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Kabalu, meantime called on the Catholic bishops and other concerned groups to look into the series of bombing incidents in the region seriously as this could be a product of a state-sponsored-violence to discredit the MILF leadership.

Kabalu said that they are wondering on the reasons why it is too easy for the military to put the blame on the rebels whenever atrocities take place in the region.

“We don’t want to entertain the thought but if the military is openly accusing us of all the bombing incidents in the region, [then it is high time concerned groups including the Catholic bishops to organize a fact finding body that will look into this matter],” Kabalu said.

He said that they’re tired of being dragged by the military in the bad light whenever violence erupts in Mindanao.

“We don’t want this to happen. We don’t want the military to always associate us with violence. We are pursuing a just cause and not violence. Maybe this is the military’s way of discrediting the command of the MILF. We want that our side will also be presented plainly,” added Kabalu.

Last week, the MILF central command also made an appeal to journalists coming from Manila and Mindanao to help them attain a balance and fair news reporting of the violence happening in the region.

Former Maguindanao Representative Datu Michael Mastura said the culture of fear towards Muslims and the MILF is already built outside Mindanao due to some irresponsible news reporting of the conflict including the series of bombings in Mindanao. (Mark S. Ventura) Photo courtesy of Sun Star Cagayan