ALL is set for the transfer of the 278 Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) detainees from Zamboanga City to Camp Bagong Diwa detention facility in Bicutan, Taguig City.
City Legal Officer Jesus Carbon Jr. said they are just waiting for the availability of a C-130 cargo plane to transport the MNLF detainees.
All of the C-130 cargo planes of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are being utilized at present for humanitarian aid transport for Typhoon Yolanda victims in the Visayas region.
The MNLF detainees, who were involved in the 20-day attack in September, have been detained at the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm of the Bureau of Corrections and at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-administered Zamboanga City Reformatory Center (ZCRC).
Carbon said they are hoping that the MNLF detainees will be transferred before Christmas.
ZCRC warden Chief Inspector Julius Arro said they have readied a security plan to ensure the orderly transfer of the MNLF detainees to Camp Bagong Diwa.
Arro, however, did not elaborate further, citing operational matters.
The move to transfer the MNLF detainees is in compliance with the Supreme Court decision that ordered the transfer of the venue of trial and detention of the rebels to Camp Bagong Diwa for security reasons.
Zamboanga City Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said the presence of the MNLF detainees at the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm continues to pose security risks to residents of the city who remain traumatized by the MNLF attack last September. (Bong Garcia)