‘When I told him we’re going home, his face just lit up’

After 45 days in a Malaysian jail, rebel leader Nur Misuari’s face lit up yesterday when he was told that he would be "going home," according to Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Affairs Jesus Dureza.

"Jess, what are you doing here?" Dureza quoted Misuari as asking him when he arrived at a Malaysian royal air force base in Subang Jaya near Kuala Lumpur before dawn yesterday to serve a warrant of arrest on the rebel leader and six of his followers.

"I said ‘We’re going home’. When I told him that his face just lit up," said Dureza, one of the many local political leaders Misuari had befriended despite the 24-year separatist war he had waged that resulted in the loss or disruption of thousands of lives.

Misuari’s return from Malaysia, previously scheduled for Jan. 15, was so secret that Misuari did not know he would be deported yesterday, Dureza said.

The team left Malaysia before dawn via a Philippine Air Force C-130 cargo plane which landed at the Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas.

Dureza said Misuari was his "old usual self" as they chatted during the five-hour return trip.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Director Lucas Managuelod, who led the police team that served the warrant of arrest on Misuari, said the fallen rebel leader brought with him a few personal belongings, including some P903,000 in cash.

Managuelod decided not to handcuff Misuari and his religious adviser, identified as Harris Usman, as a simple courtesy but restrained the six others who were caught with him on a Malaysian island on Nov. 24.

From Lipa City, he was ferried by military helicopter to the Fort Sto. Domingo police training camp in Sta. Rosa, Laguna where Misuari would be detained at the bungalow prison built especially for former President Joseph Estrada.

"This is better than what I had (in Malaysia)," Dureza quoted Misuari as saying after they arrived at the detention site at 8:45 a.m.

Interior Secretary Jose Lina said strict security measures would be implemented to prevent any attempt by Misuari’s followers to spring him from prison while awaiting trial on charges of rebellion.

Misuari was charged with rebellion before a regional trial court in Jolo, Sulu for his alleged involvement in concerted attacks on three military installations on Nov. 19 last year.

But the government is expected to ask the court to transfer the trial venue to a court nearer the detention center because of security concerns.

Lina said, however, that Misuari would be provided with round-the-clock medical supervision and allowed visitors, including his wives and children who are still in Malaysia.