Government will take back Nur if...

The Philippines is ready to take back jailed Gov. Nur Misuari to preempt the possibility of another country granting him political asylum.

President Arroyo told reporters yesterday she will ask Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to deport Misuari to the Phi-lippines if Saudi Arabia offers to take him as a political refugee.

"In that case, we will ask Malaysia to send (Misuari) back to us," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo, however, said the government has yet to get official confirmation from Saudi Arabia of its reported offer to grant refugee status to Misuari.

"I don’t want to comment on that until I get an official response from Saudi Arabia," she said.

Earlier, Mrs. Arroyo urged Malaysia to keep Misuari in jail after the fugitive governor was caught, along with six of his men, on Simparas island while trying to illegally enter Sabah.

But wherever he looks, Misuari will see the hangman’s noose.

Misuari faces rebellion and plunder charges once deported to the Philippines and a violation of the stiff Internal Security Act if he remains in a Malaysian jail.

Misuari will get the death penalty if convicted of rebellion and plunder in a Philippine court, according to Rep. Apolinario Lozada (Lakas, Negros Occidental), chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs.

Lozada said Malaysia’s police court may also send Misuari to the gallows because he had violated that country’s Internal Security Act when he included Sabah in his planned independent state of Mindanao.

"Misuari has no way out. He is facing death penalty in both the Philippines and Malaysia," he said.

On the other hand, Sen. Blas Ople said the government must ask Malaysia to immediately return Misuari to the Philippines if it has no longer "any use" for him.

"Let’s take possession of former Governor Misuari, prosecute him and make him pay for his crime," he said.

Ople, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, said the Arroyo administration will "look indecisive" if it delays action on Misuari after Malaysia loses interest in the former governor.

"Misuari deserves a fair hearing and his day in court so that the people would hear his grievances against the government and the motivations that led him to wage his ill-advised mutiny," he said.

Ople said the government must have a firm policy in dealing with Misuari as the jailed governor still wields influence with some members of the Organization of Islamic Conference.

"We should not be wishy-washy about what we should so with Misuari," he said. "We must allow due process to take its course in the case of Misuari, meaning we should have him face trial for his misdeeds."

But Lozada said the Philippines must not pressure Malaysia to deport Misuari because it may trigger a diplomatic rift between the two countries.

"Misuari may invoke the Philippine claim to Sabah in arguing his case that he was illegally arrested in Philippine territory, and at the same time he is protected by the 21-day no-visa requirement being enforced by ASEAN countries," he said. — Marichu Villanueva, Perseus Echeminada