The complaint was filed before the office of Kidapawan City Prosecutor Al Calica, a member of the anti-terror task force of the Department of Justice, at 4:59 p.m. today (Tuesday, October 17).
Three relatives of the victims of the Makilala blast initiated the filing of the complaint which was facilitated by Supt. Marcelo Pintac, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in North Cotabato.
Pintac said several witnesses pointed to MILF chair Murad and other “top commanders” of the MILF as behind the explosion.
Murad and company, Pintac said, were also named respondents in the multiple frustrated murder complaint filed before the City Prosecutor’s Office in Tacurong City last Monday.
Four persons were injured in the public market of Tacurong City eight hours before the Makilala bombing.
This is not the first time the MILF leadership was charged for multiple murder. In the Estrada administration’s “all out war” against the MILF, MILF chair Salamat Hashim and then MILF vice chair for military affairs Ebrahim were among those charged for multiple murder for bomb explosions blamed on the MILF.
In 2003, MILF chair Hashim and Ebrahim, MILF vice chair for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar and even MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu were charged with multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder for the March 4 and April 2 bombings at the Davao International Airport and the international seaport in Sasa, respectively,
The complaint against Hashim, Ebrahim and the other MILF leaders, however, was dismissed in July that same year.
Also included in the charge sheet in Makilala were alleged MILF commanders Kule Mamagong alias Ustadz Kule; Daud Sarip; Biznar Salahuddin; Atti Lintungan alias Ustadz Atti; Samsudin Demaalo alias Commander Platon Blah; and Ahmad Akmad Batabol Usman alias Abdulbasit or Basit Usman; Zahide Abdul alias Zabiri Abdul or Bedz; and Usman Al Majad.
Kagui Akmad Bayam, formerly with the Moro Natioanal Liberation Front (MNLF) was also included in the charge sheet.
Two members of the Indonesia-based militant group Jemaah Islamiyah Dulmatin alias Amat Usman and Omar Patek alias Abdul Sheik were also charged with multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder.
Seven others identified only by their aliases Madz, Tato, Sammy, Kier, Naz, Dhats, and Bai were also accused of designing, plotting, or mapping out the recent bombing incidents in Region 12 (Southwestern Mindanao).
Pintac said one of the reasons why witnesses linked the bombing to the MILF were the bombs used in those incidents.
The improvised explosives were designed from 81-mm mortar bombs with blasting mechanism, believed to have come from the MILF’s armory, reports from the CIDG-North Cotabato said.
Eid Kabalu, spokesperson for the MILF, said they would discuss the issue with their counterparts in the government peace panel.
Kabalu said the filing of the murder complaints may affect the peace talks.
MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal told MindaNews they would get more details about the case and issue a statement Wednesday.
