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Saturday, June 26, 2004
Moro group disavows links with Pamatong
CAGAYAN DE ORO -- A Moro group in Northern Mindanao issued disavowed links with disqualified presidential aspirant Elly Pamatong, said a statement of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Friday.
MNLF assistant secretary general Samie A. Tagalog said Pamatong, who was arrested in Mabitac, Laguna, Friday dawn, used his connections with the group to sow defiance and protest against the current administration.
Pamatong was captured along with seven followers by a joint military and police personnel after claiming responsibility for the spike attack on major thoroughfares in Metro Manila last Monday.
Tagalog, who described Pamatong as a disgruntled "renegade," issued the statement in reaction to the cases filed by the government against the lawyer.
He said Pamatong came into the limelight when he volunteered to act as lawyer of MNLF founder Nur Misuari in the rebellion charges filed against him by government.
The charges stemmed from the Jolo and Zamboanga city encounter with MNLF forces.
Tagalog said Pamatong's "bullying tactics" earned for him the admiration of the MNLF leadership and it was this that earned him his place as one of Misuari's lawyers and confidantes. Tagalog heads one of the national commands of the Bangsamoro Armed Forces operating in Northern Mindanao.
"But when (hard times) came, he abandoned, neglected and rejected the flight and struggle of the MNLF and joined the crusade of the late philanthropist Don Edmundo Macasalig Lahi, widely known as Kumander Lahi, on his US statehood movement," Tagalog said.
Doubts
It was for this reason, the MNLF official explained, that Pamatong's affiliation with the MNLF was automatically severed.
Tagalog said the group revoked its order recognizing and accrediting Pamatong as a leader of Christian MNLF last September 2003.
Pamatong was also stripped of his one star general or Brigadier General rank, Tagalog added. He said they are reiterating to the public that Pamatong has no ties with their group.
"This is to clear any doubts and presumptions that that our group will be used by the above person for his own personal interest," he said.
Pamatong and his companions were apprehended in a checkpoint along Maharlika Highway in Barangay Paagahan in Mabitac at 2:50 a.m. on board a red Honda Civic with plate UKT-510 and green Toyota Corolla with plate DBM-169.
Seized from them were an M16 armalite rifle, Baby Armalite with M203 grenade launcher, two caliber .45 pistols, five rifle grenades, several ammunitions, two binoculars, a still and video camera, a military compass, a handy telephone set, a set of military uniform, a sniper telescope, a fake American passport and cellphones.
Verification conducted by the PNP-Civil Security Group on the firearms confiscated found that only the caliber .45 pistol is licensed.
Sedition
Authorities said a case of illegal possession of firearms will be filed against Pamatong and his supporters apart from malicious mischief, alarm scandal, physical injury and damage to property.
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Chief Ricardo de Leon said if found that Pamatong would use the firearms to launch an armed struggle against the government, he might also face sedition charges.
De Leon likewise said they are now studying whether they can also file charges against Pamatong for threatening to set on fire several schools nationwide.
Major Gen. Pedro Cabuay, chief of Philippine Army's 2nd Infantry Battalion, said they will protect and respect the rights of Pamatong and the seven other suspects.
Cabuay said they brought the disqualified presidential bet to Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal but he will be transferred either to Camp Crame or Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City for security reasons. (SC/With Sunnex Luzon)
(June 26, 2004 issue)
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