MILF to military: What mansion?

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Sunday laughed off the military's claims that one of its commanders has a P10-million mansion in Maguindanao province in southern Philippines. MILF deputy spokesman Khaled Musa said a Cebu policeman who got rich due to his alleged involvement in the drug trade reportedly owns the house. He did not identify the policeman. "[Commander Ameril Umbra] Kato is not a rich man and even if he is rich he would never care to build such a big house knowing he is a rebel," Musa said on the MILF Web site. He said military should inquire from the Philippine National Police (PNP) about the extent of the policeman’s role in the construction of the house and where he got the money. Kato is one of three MILF commanders being hunted by government forces following a series of attacks in Central Mindanao last year. The attacks stemmed from the Supreme Court's thumbing down of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD). On Saturday, Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division based in Maguindanao, claimed Kato owned the house following the capture of a supposed MILF camp in Talitay town. - GMANews.TV