AFP: MILF rebel commander Kato is insane

AFP twits Kato as new MILF chairman

By ROGER M. BALANZA

 

The military have dismissed talks a renegade rebel commander is being pushed as the next chairman of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), saying the MILF leadership would not want a sira-ulo (insane) to lead their fight for a Moro homeland in Mindanao.

Military spokesman Major Medel Aguilar said in Davao City on Sunday that MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato would be the last man MILF would wish to lead the Mindanao group now headed by Ibrahim Murad.

Aguilar speaking on ABS/CBN’s DXAB radio said even MILF leaders squirm at the mention of Kato’s name to lead the MILF, which has been fighting for nearly four decades to establish a Moro homeland in Mindanao.

Even MILF commanders are of the opinion Kato could destroy the movement, Aguilar told anchorman James Galay, who is hosting a program on military and police affairs in the Davao Region.

 

P10M prize

 

Kato has a P10 million prize on his head after leading MILF rebels in the siege of Central Mindanao and Sarangani province last month after the Supreme Court stopped the signing between the MILF and the Philippine government of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD). The High Court gave its final verdict last week on the MOA-AD, which has been opposed by some Mindanao officials, declaring it as unconstitutional.

Kato in retaliation for the stopping of the signing led his rebel band in attacking government personnel and civilians and in a burning spree of Muslim and Christian houses, leaving 60 civilians and dozens of troopers dead. About 400,000 have fled their homes following massive military operations against Kato and two other renegade MILF commanders in Western Mindanao.

 

Leadership change

 

The group of the renegade commander has been starting to attack anew villages in Central Mindanao after the Supreme Court issued its decision declaring the MOA-Ad as illegal, prompting the military to launch new offensives.

Aguilar, group commander of the 5^th Civil Relations Group (CRG) in Southern Mindanao, said he heard reports from Central Mindanao about MILF leaders agitating for leadership change, but the shortlist of Murad’s possible replacement does not have Kato’s name on it.

They are talking about Mohagher Iqbal, (the MILF deputy chairman for information) and Khaled Musa ( MILF chief peace negotiator) as possible replacement but Kato is not in it, said Aguilar.

Aguilar said he would not wonder why Kato is a hot stuff that could not be trusted with the leadership of the MILF.

Insane

 

He is sira-ulo. He is all tempers and no brains, said Aguilar adding Kato’s aggressiveness is turning off most MILF leaders. Kato went on to lead his rebel band despite orders for ceasefire from the MILF in the siege of Central Mindanao and Sarangani, with the rebel group admitting it could not control Kato.

The MILF leadership knew that if they place Kato on top, the movement is dead, he said. Aguilar said he himself squirms at Kato as replacement for Murad. All our peace efforts would be thrown down the drain if this sira-ulo takes over the MILF, he said.