The Negros Occidental Provincial Police Office will conduct an investigation into the reported recruitment activities of a group claiming to be members of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Col. Rainerio de Chavez, provincial police director, said on Thursday March 21.
De Chavez said that they conducted an initial investigation, validation, and record checking on the background of the group.
“Our investigation showed that the Muslim group came from another barangay in Cadiz City but they were expelled as the residents filed a petition against them,” he said.
He added, “We are looking at their reason why they are in Negros or if they are here to fool people.”
He stressed that based on their records, there is no MNLF in Western Visayas, adding that the MNLF involved in peace talks with the government is in Mindanao.
He assured the public that Cadiz City police is on top of the situation.
"We don't see any threat to the residents of Cadiz. In fact, they are staying in an area owned by the Philippine Bank of Commerce. The ongoing construction was not given a permit by the local government. A security officer of the bank is already in talks with the mayor," de Chavez said.
He said the people should not be alarmed.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said that Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. will know how to deal with it.
Escalante confirmed that through the Office of the Building Official, a concrete structure that looks like a mosque has been demolished.
He said they have already brought to the attention of the bank about the presence of about 20 to 30 persons in their property in Barangay Tinampa-an who have built shanties that looks like a nilitary barracks. Some of them sometimes wear military uniform.
Escalante said a police detachment has been put up near the area to closely monitor the movement of the said individuals. A search inside the shanties also resulted to the recovery of a "sulpak" or improvised shotgun.
The group earlier stayed in Barangay V.F. Gustilo but they were disbanded in the area after complaints came out that some of the men reportedly impregnated some teenagers at the area.
"Cadiz remains very peaceful and there is no cause for alarm," he said.
The group raised a flag and set up checkpoints in the area.
There were also reports that they are recruiting members, whom they promised a P40,000 monthly salary, after paying a P10,000 recruitment fee.
Escalante said he has already raised the concern to the national government and that they exploring legal moves against the group.
The alleged recruitment activity of the group is illegal," Escalante said, citing the statement he received from the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Carlito Galvez that peace agreement the government forged with the MNLF in 1996 clearly stated that the government prohibits and so not authorize the establishment of new camps and recruitment of new members.
The same activity by the MNLF has been reported to Galvez in Region 4A and other areas outside the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.*