It’s not for you to say, stupid!

Courts of law are supposed to determine a person’s guilt.

Meanwhile, a suspect has to go through the motion of submitting him/herself to the authorities for interrogation/investigation.

If the suspect fails or refuses to voluntarily present himself to authorities, law enforcers have no choice but to go after him.

Taking flight or going into hiding is generally considered as proof of guilt. Such guilt extends to parties aiding and abetting a suspect in a gruesome crime.

And since the refuge and sanctuary sought was provided by armed insurgents supposedly negotiating peace with the government, such group is negotiating in bad faith.            

How can they expect us to conclude otherwise when the Moro Islamic Liberation Front insisted that they would not surrender their wanted commander Dan Asnawi since -- get this! -- he has not yet been proven guilty of whatever crime he has allegedly committed.

According to MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar, Asnawi is still presumed innocent until proven guilty under the justice system.

“There must be due process, and before the conclusion of the due process he must not be condemned as criminal…So why is the government forcing the issue that he (Asnawi) must be surrendered when he is not yet proven guilty as accused of the crime he did in the past?” Jaafar was quoted by a major broadsheet as saying.

Isn’t this evident bad faith coming from a ranking MILF official?

In deal-making or negotiation of contracts, bad faith is a non-starter. It makes the deal or contract imperfect.  

The statement came the same day that the Malacañang told the MILF off, saying that they either cooperate with the military and police’s ongoing operations against lawless elements or they step aside.

Meamwhile, state security forces are assaulting known lairs of lawless elements allegedly responsible for kidnapping and killing incidents in Mindanao as part of their regular law-enforcement amd internal security operations. Most of the targets, like Asnawi, are affiliated with the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf Group which operates in Basilan.

In fact. Army chief Arturo Ortiz is right in ordering is field comanders to proceed with “pursuit operations against criminals and bandits” after the MILF refused to hand over Asnawi, who has been wanted by government for the 2007 beheading of 14 Marines and the killing of 19 Army Special Forces troops last October. 18 both in Al-Barka, Basilan.

Ortiz, reacting to the MILF’s refusal to hand over Asnawi, said the Army has already filed a complaint against the MILF forces in Al-Barka before the joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities  for “ceasefire violations and for coddling criminals in their community.”

“It is the mandate of the Army and the PNP to run after criminals through the right process,” Ortiz said in Filipino.

“If the MILF does not cooperate with the Army, the Army would still conduct pursuit operations against criminals and bandits according to the law and according to the peace negotiations,” he warned.