Palace: MILF won’t get back camps

Malacañang brushed aside yesterday as "pure intrigue" reports that the government has agreed to return to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps captured from the rebel group by government forces two years ago.

"That has never been stated in the documents signed last week in Malaysia by representatives of the MILF and our national government," said Presidential Assistant for Special Concerns Norberto Gonzales.

In a radio interview in Cotabato City, Gonzales clarified that the accord merely provided for a continuing rehabilitation of blighted communities affected by the armed conflict in Mindanao, as well as the implementation of infrastructure projects needed to spur the economic development of the island.

Gonzales said even the MILF did not ask for the return of its camps, which fell into government hands during the military’s all-out offensive in 2000 ordered by then President Joseph Estrada.

"These are just intrigues being circulated by certain parties," Gonzales said.

He also revealed that the two sides issued a joint communiqué whereby the MILF expressed willingness to cooperate with the government in law enforcement and peacekeeping in areas where the rebel group enjoys some influence over the populace.

Gonzales was a member of the government panel which met last week with its MILF counterpart in Kuala Lumpur pursuant to the government’s peace initiatives in Mindanao.

He said the government will carry out the infrastructure development program in former MILF enclaves, notably Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao, to enable its residents affected by the hostilities to rebuild their lives.

More than 2,000 families have returned to the camp since January last year and tilled their farms anew, Matanog Mayor Nasser Imam said.

The Army’s 54th Engineering Combat Brigade re-opened to vehicular traffic the 9.5-kilometer all-weather road connecting the camp to the Secretary Narciso Ramos Highway.

The sprawling Camp Abubakar, comprising a 20,000-hectare fertile plateau, is surrounded by Maguindanao’s hinterland towns of Matanog, Buldon and Barira.

Meanwhile, President Arroyo canceled her trip to Camp Abubakar where she planned to convene tomorrow a joint meeting of the regional development council and the regional peace and order council. – John Unson, Jose Rodel Clapano, Marichu Villanueva