MILF convinced GMA will finish term

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it is convinced that President Arroyo will finish her term in 2010 and that there is “no credible leader” who can take over if she is forced to resign.

The MILF’s website, www.luwaran.com, quoted Mohammad Ameen, chief secretariat of the front’s central committee, as saying that Vice President Noli De Castro is incompetent and thus, cannot be relied upon to lead the country.

Ameen said even Muslims in Mindanao do not consider De Castro as a good leader, despite his being married to a member of the Maguindanaon royalty, Bai Arlene Sinsuat-De Castro.

Ameen, clarified, however, that the controversies hounding the Arroyo presidency, particularly the national broadband network scandal, are internal matters and are not much of a concern for the MILF.

“I am not for or against Mrs. Arroyo, but it is good to make concrete analysis of the situation (now) as to how the MILF sees it,” Ameen said.

Ameen said the MILF is also convinced that Filipinos have grown tired of “people power” as a means of bringing about change in the national leadership.

“They (Filipinos) seem to have rationalized already that one politician replaced by another politician through people power is like changing one rotten egg with another rotten egg, and therefore, they are turned off to join another mass movement such as rallies or demonstrations,” Ameen said.

“Most of the rank-and-file soldiers and policemen are still with Arroyo not because they are loyal to her but because most of the top brass of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are compromised,” Ameen said without elaborating. 

Ameen said the support of the United States in unseating a president in the Philippines is very essential, adding that he does not see any involvement of the US government in any oust-Arroyo effort.

The MILF official also said that the Church hierarchy, which played major roles in previous people’s uprisings, is divided.

Ameen said the people appear to have already realized that 2010 is close and that it might be too risky to embark on an ambitious but unpredictable people power revolt to unseat Mrs. Arroyo.

Ameen also said that while the MILF leadership believes that corruption charges against the administration have basis, they should be resolved by the courts and not through extra-constitutional means.

“The MILF, in any way, would not be a party to whatever happens to the national political scene in the days ahead,” Ameen said. 

‘Canine loyalty’ for GMA

Muslim clerics said it is Islam’s strict teachings on respect for leaders and on exhaustive democratic processes that explain the “canine loyalty” of officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to Mrs. Arroyo.

“That’s the reason why all of the more than 100 mayors, six provincial governors and the ARMM regional governor are so loyal to President Arroyo and remain with her in this crucial moment of her administration,” said Maranaw preacher Saripada Moktar.

Ustadz Mohammad Farid Solaiman Adas, chief of ARMM’s 700-member Madaris Education Bureau, said that in keeping with Islamic tradition of respecting elected leaders, politicians in the autonomous region would not do anything to embarrass President Arroyo for any perceived wrongdoing.

“In Islam, perceived errors in governance are discussed through dialogues among leaders and representatives from different sectors, not something to be used to embarrass a leader or cause the fragmentation of people,” Solaiman said.

Adas, citing feedbacks from his constituent-missionaries in far-flung areas of ARMM, said not one of the 101 mayors and six provincial governors in the autonomous region is affected by the controversies gripping the administration.

“Politicians in the ARMM will not in anyway support a move to unseat President Arroyo because it would violate an Islamic tradition of consensus-building in effecting leadership in any organization, any country,” Ustadz Mandih said.

Furigay of Lamitan, a component city of the autonomous region.