New ‘Ilaga’ alarms Davao folk

DAVAO CITY — The local Muslim community has expressed alarm over the emergence of a group patterned after the Ilaga which was the main protagonist in the Christian-Muslim conflict in Mindanao in the 1970s.

"The rebirth of the Ilaga brings uncertainty and anxiety among Muslim residents because the group vows to sow terror," said Aleem Mohammad Adilao, chairman of the Southern Mindanao chapter of the Ulama League of the Philippines.

The group calling itself the "Bagong Ilaga" made its presence felt in a statement it sent to several media entities here early this week.

In the statement signed by a certain Commander Dapay, Bagong Ilaga said the time has come for aggrieved sectors to break their silence about the abuses of some groups like the Abu Sayyaf, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Moro National Liberation Front, the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom syndicate and the Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesian-based terrorist group.

The group said it would pursue terrorist groups victimizing innocent civilians through bombings and other attacks.

Dapay called on the local Muslims to stay away from terrorist groups and be faithful to the teachings of Allah.

"In that way, they will not be included in the targets of the group," he said.

Adilao, however, said the Bagong Ilaga is not needed since the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police are both doing their tasks in going after terrorist groups in the country.

Col. Eduardo del Rosario, head of the Army-led Task Force Davao, said the military intelligence community has yet to verify the existence of Bagong Ilaga, which he described to be "illegal."

Del Rosario called on the group not to be impatient with the government since it is doing its best in addressing terrorism.