July 31 2003, The Age / AFP, Army sold us guns, say rebels, by Jason Gutierrez,

July 31 2003, The Age / AFP, Army sold us guns, say rebels, by Jason Gutierrez,
Manila


Picture: AFP 
Gloria Arroyo faces rebel accusations.

Muslim separatists waging an insurgency in the southern Philippines said yesterday that they bought weapons from the military, confirming an allegation by soldiers who launched a failed revolt against the Government.

There was, however, no wholesale "collusion" between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the military and it was likely that only individual solders were selling weapons to the guerillas, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said.

About 300 renegade soldiers took over a commercial and residential complex in the financial centre of Makati on Sunday.

They booby-trapped the area and demanded President Gloria Arroyo and other top officials resign for alleged corruption in the military. After a day-long stand-off, they surrendered peacefully.

The rebels accused Dr Arroyo's Government of selling weapons to the MILF, the communist New People's Army and the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang in a bid to prolong their insurgencies and get more military and financial aid from the United States. 

Weapons previously recovered from rebel camps overrun by troops in the south were marked with "DND arsenal", the mutineers said, indicating they came from the Department of National Defence.

The Government has denied the accusation, but Dr Arroyo created a commission on Monday to investigate the allegation. Military spy chief Brigadier-General Victor Corpuz resigned yesterday to calm restiveness within military ranks and ensure that there would be no cover-up.

"We understand through our simple inquiry that these firearms come from the (Government) arsenal," Mr Kabalu said.

"There's no direct links between the MILF and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines). We do buy firearms and ammunition, not necessarily from the AFP (directly)," he said.

He said that in the southern Philippines, where the MILF has been waging its guerilla war for the past 25 years, weapons are "a prime commodity, very much in demand.

"We do not bother ourselves to determine the source of the materials".

- AFP