Manila: Government forces and Moro Islamic Liberation Front combatants are poised to conduct joint action against breakaway Moro commander Umbra Kato.

Reports reaching Manila quoted Lt. Gen. Arthur Tabaquero, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Eastern Mindanao Command as saying that the government will hunt down Kato once he officially renounces the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Tabaquero cited a provision in the standing ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF which allows the military and the Moro organisation to jointly conduct actions against criminals and terrorists under the Ad-Hoc Joint Action Group or AHJAG mechanism.

Kato, former head of the MILF 105th Base Command, had been declared by the MILF as a "bughaat" or a rogue element after he continuously defied efforts by the MILF Central Committee abide by its directives.

Kato had formed his own rebel group the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) during the early part of this year and recently, had conducted attacks against the forces of his former comrades in the MILF.

The MILF said that it had dropped Kato from its rolls after a deadline set by the MILF Central Committee for hims to retirn to its fold lapsed last September 26.

According to Von Al Haq, MILF spokesperson, the MILF central committee will soon issue an official statement concerning Kato's status based on the recommendations an independent group of Islamic scholars, the Ulama Council.

The government said that it is ready to take action against Kato without the help of the MILF, if the Moro commander refuses continues to conduct actions independent actions.

Kato in 2008 led actions against government forces after the then administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo nullified a signed agreement with the MILF that gave the rebel group ancestral domain rights over a significant portion of territories in Central Mindanao.

Monitoring post

Meanwhile, government and the MILF Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team put in place a Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Post (JCMP) in Midsayap, Cotabato Province.

JCMP - Midsayap was established on September 24, 2011 at Sitio Udsudan, B Mudseng village in Midsayap, North Cotabato as an interim local ceasefire mechanism on the ground.

Manning the post are two personnel from the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) - MILF, two officers from the 40th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, and two volunteers from the Bantay Ceasefire Group - Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) are housed in one JCMP outpost as one unit working together for the promotion of the primacy of the ceasefire and the peace process between the government and MILF.

Immediately after its establishment, the return of more than 100 internally displaced families to their respective homes in Mudseng was facilitated.