PAGADIAN CITY - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said on Friday it was revising its plan for the rescue of kidnapped Irish Catholic priest Michael Sinnott after the Zamboanga del Sur crisis management committee asked it to reduce the number of men tasked to carry out the mission.
Eid Kabalu, MILF civil-military affairs chief, told the Inquirer by phone that the MILF organized a company-size group of guerrillas—one company is about 150 men—to go after the group that snatched Sinnott last Oct. 11 and rescue the priest.
But Kabalu said the Zamboanga del Sur crisis management committee asked the MILF to reduce the size of the rescue team to a fifth.
“That is why are working out an adjustment to the earlier operations plan with the Joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities in the light of the recommendations of the crisis management committee chaired by Governor Aurora Cerilles,” he said.
Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief, has said the size of the force recommended by the provincial crisis committee was too small considering the security risks involved in such an operation.
But Kabalu said despite this setback, the rebel group was “ready to mobilize anytime as the go-signal from Philippine authorities is issued.”
Kabalu said the rescue mission will be conducted in the jungle that straddles the municipalities of Sapad, Nunungan and Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte because it is where Sinnott is being held.
The MILF’s information on the location of the abducted priest was corroborated by two locals, who were among those tapped to help in the efforts to secure Sinnott’s freedom. The informants said Sinnott was being held there since October 18.
The 70-year-old priest, who has a heart condition, was kidnapped on October 11 by six armed men, who stormed the Columban House in Pagadian’s Gatas district.
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