By Sammy Martin, Reporter

Secretary Ronaldo Puno of the Department of the Interior and Local Government on Tuesday said that the abductors of Irish priest Father Michael Sinnott are members of the 113th Base Command of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Puno’s statement demolished continued denials by the MILF’s Central Committee that it knew nothing about the abduction of Sinnott, 79.

The Interior secretary said that he has rejected a request of the MILF to send a company-size delegation of its members to communicate with the kidnappers of Sinnott.

Sending such large contingent to simply relay a message, Puno pointed out, indicated that the MILF leadership was powerless against the group behind the abduction of the Irish priest.
He said that he had relayed his opposition to this proposal to Ambassador Rafael Seguis, the head of the government panel engaged in peace talks with the MILF.

“They [government panel] must be informed of developments so that they can balance the situation and relay this to the MILF panel, [which] seems [to] have no control [over its] men on the ground,” Puno told reporters during a press briefing.

According to the Interior chief, they were glad to learn from the crisis committee headed by Gov. Aurora Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur that Sinnott is alive. The committee is at the center of the standoff between the government and the kidnappers of the Irish priest.

Puno said that any attempt to rescue Sinnott would remain a police job, with the military providing necessary support to help guarantee the safe release and recovery of the priest.

He made the statements in response to the request of the MILF to get involved in rescue operations for Sinnott by sending 75 to 200 rebels accompanied by government troops to the kidnappers’ lair.
“Although we welcome and appreciate the efforts of the MILF to participate in the release of Father Sinnott, we believe it should be within the confines of agreements that the MILF had forged with the government,” Puno said.

“As you know, there will be a resumption of the peace process soon and we don’t want to create a situation that would complicate the peace negotiations,” he added.
Puno said that all requests by the MILF to be part of the rescue operations to secure Sinnott’s release should be coursed through the peace panel headed by Seguis.

He stressed that “from this point onward, the CMC [Crisis Management Committee headed by Cerilles] and the Philippine National Police [PNP] will be cutting off all [communications] with the MILF and direct all communications to the [government peace] panel to simplify things.”
Puno said that the government believes the kidnappers are either “directly or closely associated” with the MILF.

He directed the PNP to work closely with the Seguis panel to ensure that no violations of any agreement forged by the panel with the MILF are committed in recovering Sinnott.

Puno was in Pagadian City on Sunday to meet with the Cerilles committee and discuss options on how to secure the Irish priest’s safe release.

He reiterated the government’s position that no ransom will be paid to secure Sinnott’s freedom.
“There will be no negotiations for any ransom. We will not pay any kind of ransom,” Puno said.
“Our main concern is the safety of Father Sinnott. Suffice it to say that the PNP and AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] have the situation under their watch.”