October 28, 2009, GMA News, 3:51 PM, ‘Rogue’ MILF group has Fr. Sinnott - Teodoro,

October 28, 2009, GMA News, 3:51 PM, ‘Rogue’ MILF group has Fr. Sinnott - Teodoro, 

(Updated 5:23 p.m.) Abducted Irish missionary Fr. Michael Sinnott is in the hands of “rogue" members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. bared on Wednesday.

"The exact group appears to be rogue MILF group. That’s the report to me," Teodoro said at a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, adding that the motive of the kidnappers is yet to be known. 

For his part, Armed Forces public affairs officer Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said there are indicators that the rebels are holding the 79-year-old priest at the boundaries of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte provinces in Mindanao.

Initial information said Sinnott was kidnapped by a group of pirates led by one Guingona Samal and was later turned over to a faction of the MILF.

The MILF leadership has denied responsibility in the kidnapping and even deployed their men to help rescue Sinnott, who was abducted last October 11 from his house in Pagadian City.

The military has yet to confirm if the MILF has indeed deployed its forces on the ground. 

“They (MILF) are saying that, but so far we have no sightings that there is movement of that magnitude," Brawner said.

But Eid Kabalu, the spokesman of the rebel group, said their forces are "moving to execute the mission." He also chided Teodoro for linking the MILF in Sinnott's kidnapping. 

“Right now, our forces are moving to execute this mission and then all of a sudden, we will be receiving such kind of comment from a presidentiable. (He) cant make this baseless accusation," said Kabalu, referring to Teodoro's bid to run for president under the administration party in next year's elections.

Kabalu said Teodoro should have listened to military commanders on the ground before making such an accusation. “If he is going to ask his men on the ground, he might not be saying that kind of baseless accusation," he said.

Teodoro said he is not comfortable with the MILF deploying its men to secure Sinnott. “It is a very ticklish question if we will allow them to operate in the area as an armed group. I will have serious reservations on that," he said.

Brawner said the MILF could show its sincerity to help solve the kidnapping by talking to its commanders.

The government and the MILF have been observing ceasefire since July in preparation for the resumption of peace negotiations, which both camps hope would end the decades-old armed conflict in Mindanao. - GMANews.TV