11 August 2000 - ABS-CBN

PASAY CITY (ABS-CBN) - The Malaysian government has vowed to help the Philippines go after top Muslim secessionist leaders who might seek refuge in its Sabah state.

Malaysian ambassador Mohammad Arshad bin Manzoor Hussein told reporters that Kuala Lumpur will assist Manila in apprehending leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who might hide in that country.

"If you can point where in Malaysia , and they are really wanted by the Philippine government to answer for certain crimes, then we will make sure they are out of there. The Philippines and Malaysia are friends and have close cooperation," the Malaysian ambassador said.

Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Franklin Ebdalin said no rebel leader has been sighted so far in any Southeast Asian or Middle Eastern countries.

But should they be spotted in any of these countries, Ebdalin said Manila will seek the cooperation of the country involved.

The MILF has been blamed by the military and police for a series of recent bombings and attacks in Mindanao that killed more than 50 people.

Already, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has put up a total of P9 million cash reward for the capture of its leaders. Of the amount, P5 million is being offered for the arrest of MILF chair Salamat Hashim, P3 million for vice chairman Al Haj Murad and P1 million for rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu.

Local Government Secretary Alfredo Lim said the arrest of the three rebel leaders would cripple the MILF and diminish its capacity to launch attacks.

While the bounty has already attracted even relatives of rebel leaders, chief government negotiator Edgardo Batenga said the cash reward could hamper efforts by the government to resume peace talks with the rebels.

" Definitely, it might not project a very good environment for the peace process, " Batenga said.

He said he is continuing discussion with his rebel counterpart to find a way of resuming the peace talks , possibly this month.

A drawback
Sen. Raul Roco said putting up a cash reward is actually a drawback to the Makapili days, when Filipino "volunteers" squealed to Japanese invaders who the freedom fighters were.

"The offer will generate ill-will and treachery instead of good will," Roco contended. "You cannot build peace by encouraging disloyalty."

He added that Lim has no power to use public funds to reward people who spy on others.

"The important thing is the perspective of helping one another , instead of betraying one another. It is wrong to use rewards to encourage Filipinos to splinter," Roco stressed.

Sen. Gregorio Honasan, on the other hand, said the offer of bounty contradicts the government's act of giving safe conduct passes for MILF leaders in the peace negotiations.

Honasan, chairman of the Senate committee on peace, reconciliation and unification, said the offer of reward gives mixed signals and confusion on the government's actual position on the peace process.

"The government should now decide and declare whether it wants the peace process to take a back seat a full-scale manhunt for the MILF leaders is in order," Honasan said.

The MILF , meanwhile, belittled the bounty offered by Lim.

"If they cannot arrest any members of the extremist Abu Sayyaf, how much more the leaders of the MILF. We are bigger in number compared to the bandits," Kabalu said.

He said the cash reward is nothing but a sign of the government's weakness in dealing with the Mindanao crisis.

Kabalu said the government should instead spend the bounty to feed evacuees in Central Mindanao.

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