Gov't-MILF anti-crime pact questioned after recent clashes

COTABATO CITY — Two bloody encounters between anti-narcotics operatives and secessionist forces the past six days again raised questions on the propriety of the government’s anti-crime cooperation pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

 

The 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities between the government and the MILF binds both sides to cooperate in maintaining law and order in flashpoint areas to ensure cordiality with each other.

 

Three members of a composite anti-narcotics unit, PO3 Darwin Espallardo, Army Cpl. Jose Miravalles and Private 1st Class Jaypee Duran, were killed on Sunday in an encounter with Moro rebels, led by Mukz Masgal, also known as "Commander Madrox," in Barangay Nabalawag in Midsayap town in North Cotabato in an operation that went haywire and sent hundreds of villagers running for their lives.

 

RELATED: 3 anti-drug operatives killed in clash with Moro rebels

 

Masgal, who is facing 11 criminal cases in different courts, is a known drug lord operating a group of more than 50 people peddling methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) in isolated areas in Midsayap and Aleosan towns, both covered by the government-MILF ceasefire accord.

 

His group was also tagged as behind the deaths of more than 20 local drug peddlers from competing syndicates in the past three years.

 

The interim security agreement, crafted by government and MILF negotiators in Cagayan de Oro City in July 1997, obliges the rebel group to help the police and the Armed Forces neutralize criminal gangs and terrorists through a joint ceasefire committee and an ad hoc joint action group.

 

So intense was Sunday’s encounter between the group of Masgal and combined agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the Philippine National Police that a military artillery base nearby has to fire 105 Howitzer cannons at rebel reinforcements closing in from neighboring barangays.

 

Local officials said Masgal originally was a member of the MILF, but was booted out due to his involvement in criminal activities, including the collection of “protection money” from peasants in areas where his group operates and large-scale distribution of drugs and marijuana.

 

Sources close to him said he has been introducing himself lately as an ally of radical jihadist Imam Karialan, leader of one of two factions in the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

 

“He (Masgal) is `big fish,’ a large-scale drug dealer,” said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified for security reasons.

 

The incident on Sunday in Midsayap, an agricultural town in the first district of North Cotabatao, was preceded by last week’s encounter between an anti-narcotics unit and a group of rogue Moro rebels, led by Manuel Ugalingan, most known as “Commander Boyet,” in Barangay Marguez in Esperanza town in Sultan Kudarat.

 

Soldiers, PDEA agents and policemen were about to peacefully arrest Ugalingan for his drug trafficking activities, but he and his men opened fire, provoking a brief encounter.

 

Ugalingan was killed in the exchange of gunfire, which waned only when his companions yielded and turned in their assault rifles when they saw him fell after having been shot in the head by an Army sniper.

 

Ugalingan’s 11 followers who surrendered to the raiding team voluntarily turned in their assault rifles.

 

Senior Superintendent Raul Supiter, director of the Sultan Kudarat provincial police office, said they have separately charged the arrested suspects with illegal possession of firearms and explosives and violation of the Philippine Dangerous Drugs Act.

 

Local officials in Esperanza said Ugalingan started as a commander in the MILF, but became estranged with his superiors in the group and eventually joined the BIFF.

 

The BIFF is not covered by the 1997 ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF.