Kato an obstacle to Mindanao’s struggle for peace

We take a different view from those who condemn the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for its perceived inability to rein in Kumander Umra Kato and his lawless forces. We subscribe to the popular belief that the members of this ragtag group have already dissociated themselves from the MILF given the fact that they now call themselves the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. Whether or not Kato and his men have severed their umbilical cord from the MILF is no longer a subject of debate. There is now an ongoing battle between the MILF and Kato’s men and the casualties are being counted from both sides.

We view this development as the MILF’s demonstration of sincerity in negotiating peace with the government and of its resolve to prove it can handle problems as serious and complicated as Kato. Remember that it was Kato and Bravo who went on a killing rampage when the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was questioned before the Supreme Court. Both the negotiating panels of the government and the MILF knew that the MOA-AD was too far from being final as the document still had to go through legislative scrutiny and several political processes. The criminal acts of the two MILF commanders bared the kind of savagery they are capable of. Some quarters made a fuss about the unconstitutionality of the MOA-AD, but there is a lot more significant insights and implications  one can see from the criminal acts of the two renegade MILF commanders, be it in an atmosphere of peace or conflict.

For what good is a peace pact when there lurks a potential threat that can derail treaties and cause yet another war? President Aquino’s going the extra mile to personally meet with MILF Chair Murad Ebrahim sends us a strong signal that his administration is serious about ending the Mindanao conflict. Contrary to insinuations made by MILF senior negotiator Michael Mastura, we believe that the President  risked his popularity to achieve an elusive peace.

Mastura would do better if he would help Murad and MILF Vice Chair Ghazali Jaafar draw out a strategy on how to deal with a problem like Kato, for if there is any peril to the MILF and peace itself, it is in fact the undisciplined force of Kato.

For now, we are seeing positive signals from the MILF: it is cracking its whip on Kato’s wayward and murderous force.

—RINA DE JESUS, [email protected]