Gov't awaits formal word on Umbra Kato from MILF

Government peace negotiators are waiting for formal word from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front regarding the status of one of its "rogue" commanders. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said the government panel has not yet received "official communication" regarding Ameril Umbra Kato. "In the meantime, we have accepted their representations during the last round of negotiations that Kato is their internal problem," the OPAPP said in a statement posted on the government portal Friday night. It added the government expects MILF officials to resolve this issue and show their capabilities as leaders of their supposed constituencies. "For now, we are deep into our preparations for the upcoming talks and the entire administration remains committed to the primacy of the peace process," it said. On Thursday, the MILF said it is in the final stages of internal dialogues with Kato, adding it expects to resolve the issue in time for the resumption of peace talks with the government. MILF central committee spokesman Muhammad Ameen said they want to determine if Kato will abandon his so-called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). “Time is ticking out very fast and a decision is definitely forthcoming," Ameen said in an article posted Thursday on the MILF website. He said "intense negotiations" are still ongoing with Kato. He hinted the negotiations include Kato's returning to the MILF fold. Kato had become controversial when he led attacks in parts of Mindanao in 2008, after the Supreme Court junked a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain. “Let us cross our fingers; I don’t know, but intense negotiation is still ongoing," Ameen said when asked if Kato will return to the MILF fold. Kato, 76, joined the MILF in 1993, barely six years after the late MILF Chairman Hashim Salamat returned from Lahore, Pakistan in December 1987. Before, Kato studied in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, taking up Islamic course, and returned to Mindanao and taught for many years in Davao City and Davao Oriental. He was also a missionary of the Saudi Arabian government, but his contract was terminated after his role in the post-MOA-AD fighting was exposed by the media. "Compared to the senior members of the MILF, political and military, Kato, although much older, is new to the organization," the MILF said. In January 2005, Kato and some military commanders of the MILF’s 105th Base Command were suspended for one year by the MILF Central Committee after they violated the Government of the Republic of the Philippines-MILF Ceasefire Agreement on the pretext of getting even after government troops killed one of his men, Abdulrahman Bides, in Palembang, Sultan Kudarat earlier. — LBG, GMA News