| MILF: Estrada now full-pledged criminal |
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| Written by Webmaster T-383 | ||||
| Thursday, 13 September 2007 | ||||
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Commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who fought with Philippine troops sent by Pres. Joseph Estrada
in the 2000 all-out war are partly relieved that he is now a
full-fledged criminal following of his conviction of plunder handed
down by a special division of the Sandiganbayan yesterday, Wednesday,
September 12, 2007. One commander, who requested anonymity for reason that he does not want to personalize the issue, told Luwaran by phone that Estrada deserved not just a life imprisonment. He described the sentence as not only soft but the chance of total pardon will come its way from Malacanang or by the next president in three years time. “He deserved to be in Muntinlupa among the worst of the criminals”, he proposed. Another junior officer of the MILF armed forces, who saw action inside camp Abubakar in 2000, said that it was not the war that he hated Estrada because that is normal in a revolutionary struggle but how he used the Muslims in his Muslim Youth Foundation as front for corruption. “Who benefited from that foundation during his time?” he quipped. Estrada declared all-out war on the MILF without clear justifications. The GRP-MILF peace process was moving forward smoothly after the government agreed to open up formal talks with the group in 1998 and to acknowledge seven of its 46 camps in Mindanao and Sulu. The all-out war started on March 22, 2000 in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, and formally terminated by the government on July 19, 2000 after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claimed to have captured Camp Abubakar in Shariff Kabunsuan. The MILF hit back with fire and fury and declared all-out jihad against the government until Estrada was ousted from power in early 2001. Abubakar was the nerve center of the MILF, which hosted both its Central Committee and the headquarters of the MILF Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces. Both the late MILF Chairman Salamat Hashim and MILF Chief of Staff Al Haj Murad Ebrahim were inside the camp directing the war efforts. The Sadiganbayan, however, acquitted the co-accused, lawyer Edward Serapio and the president’s son, Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada. The proceedings Wednesday wound up a six-year trial that Estrada, 70, had repeatedly insisted was politically motivated. The
Court also confiscated more than P734 million deposited in the Jose
Velarde account and the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation. The court also
seized the so-called Boracay Mansion in New Manila, Quezon City.
Estrada said the verdict “appeared to be a political move” that came after pressure from his arch-rival and successor, current President Arroyo. He accused the business elite, President Arroyo and the powerful Roman Catholic Church of conspiring against him because of his populist platform.
Source: Luwaran Online
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