MANILA -- The government rejected Tuesday the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) request to help in the negotiations for the release of a kidnapped ailing priest in Mindanao.

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno said Tuesday that the MILF wanted to send a company-size delegation of its members to communicate with the kidnappers of Fr. Michael Sinnott, who has been suffering from a heart ailment.

For updates from around the country, follow Sun.Star on Twitter

But Puno said the need to send such a large contingent to simply relay a message indicates that the Moro rebel front has no control over the kidnappers, who the Philippine National Police (PNP) said are members of MILF 113rd Base Command headed by Commander Aloy Alsree.

“I believe only one or two members are needed for the negotiations. If they (Moro rebels) cannot do that, they really cannot control their group,” Puno said.

The request was sent sometime last week, according to Puno, after the MILF admitted that the group holding Fr. Sinnott is a breakaway group.

Puno said the MILF asked the government to send a company-size contingent of 75 to 200 men accompanied by government troops to the kidnappers’ lair.

“This is a sizable number but we have to check on the exact elements that are now involved there,” National Police chief Jesus Versoza said.

Cartographic sketches of the kidnappers of Sinnott, 79, a member of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban (MSSC), are already in the hands of the police.

Puno instead challenged the MILF to enumerate the people who are part of the renegade group, saying if the Moro rebel front claims to be an organization, then it should have control over its members.

The DILG secretary also insisted that no ransom will be paid for the eventual safe release of Fr. Sinnott.

He said negotiations with the MILF may not be on "deaf ears but incapable hands."

"They can hear us but they can't do anything about it," Puno said.

Though the government welcomes the MILF's efforts to directly participate in the entire effort, Puno said any action must be within the confines of working agreements between the government and MILF in the past.

This is so as not to complicate peace negotiations during the resumption of peace agreements.

“Don't blame the government if we don't allow them that. We need to enforce laws because that's our job,” Puno said.

A ceasefire agreement has defined areas of the MILF where the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) could not enter without informing the Moro rebel group.

“This generally has something to do with hot pursuit. If someone commits a crime, and the run into the MILF, the PNP and the AFP can go in but they need to notify the MILF,” Puno said.

Puno also believes that identifying the members would not derail the negotiations but rather make if faster because the MILF will be forced to be honest with them.

Versoza said they are now in the case build up mode, which includes gathering of evidences to be used for prosecution.

“There are witnesses. During the process of gathering evidence, the identities of the kidnappers started to surface,” Versoza said.

In Malacañang, Deputy Presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the MILF should show good faith by punishing its members or commanders who may be proven to be involved in the kidnapping of Sinnott.

The MILF, she added, is now conducting its own internal investigations, which the government acknowledges.

Fajardo also expressed hope that the kidnapping would not affect the peace negotiations between the government and Moro rebels, following military and police reports that Sinnott was turned over to the MILF under a certain Commander Abu Handal.

The Palace official said authorities are doing all they can to secure the safe and immediate release of the Irish priest, especially given his heart condition.

Sinnott was abducted by more or less six armed men from his residence at the MSSC in Pagadian City last October 11 while strolling inside the missionary compound. He was last sighted three days after in the general areas of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte provinces.

The military initially tagged a group of local pirates as responsible for the priest's abduction, but subsequent reports showed Sinnott was turned over to a group of rogue elements of the secessionist MILF. (Angela Casauay/With VR and JMR/Sunnex)