2 MNLF factions disown Zambo attack

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Leaders of two other factions of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) yesterday assured Malacañang of their continued support for the 1996 peace agreement, as they disowned the attack conducted by armed supporters of MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari in Zamboanga City.

Six people were reportedly killed while dozens were wounded and trapped after scores of armed MNLF members infiltrated several villages.

Twenty persons were also reportedly held hostage by the MNLF.

Abdul Sahrin, speaking on behalf of the MNLF Senior Leaders’ Forum, told reporters they do not support Misuari’s followers that held several hostages in barangays Sta. Catalina, Sta. Barbara, and Kasanyangan in Zamboanga City.

Former Cotabato City vice mayor Muslimin Sema, chairman of the largest and most politically active faction in the MNLF, said more than 20 revolutionary states in different Mindanao provinces, including Palawan, remain loyal to their now 17-year truce with government.

The government and the MNLF signed a final peace agreement in Manila on Sept. 2, 1996.

The MNLF Senior Leaders’ Forum, which includes former Sulu Gov. Yusoph Jikiri and other top MNLF leaders, was organized last week in Zamboanga City by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The forum was established to spearhead cooperation in the implementation of socio-economic programs in communities of former Moro rebels in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Sahrin, a Tausug, told reporters they have nothing to do with the violence perpetrated by Misuari’s group.

“We are against it and we don’t see it as good for the Mindanao peace process,” he said.

Sahrin said he and other senior MNLF leaders met last week with Hataman and officials of OPAPP and discussed solutions to develop the depressed Moro communities in the region.

Sahrin said the leaders’ forum also rejects Misuari’s declaration of independence in Mindanao, a move reportedly prompted by his sentiments over the government’s alleged failure to comply with some sensitive provisions of the government-MNLF peace agreement.

Misuari declared last Aug. 12 the independence of the Bangsamoro Republik in Talipao, Sulu, which covers the whole of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan.

Misuari had been protesting since he felt that the MNLF was left out of the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) last Oct. 15 at Malacañang.

Sahrin said even the MNLF faction led by Sema was represented in their recent meeting in Zamboanga City, which was also attended by lawyer Jose Lorena, a deputy of presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles.

“We will never turn our backs on that peace agreement as long as there is a mechanism acceptable to the MNLF and the government, that can pursue its implementation in ‘letter and spirit,’ to the mutual satisfaction of both sides,” Sema told The STAR.

Sema said he has directed all their forces to “stay put,” in keeping with their commitment to the Southern Philippines Peace Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

He said the MNLF leaders upheld the efforts for the peaceful resolution of any misunderstanding with Malacañang on the implementation of the final peace pact between the government and the MNLF. – With Mike Frialde, Ben Serrano