MILF: Gov’t underestimated MNLF

MANILA, Philippines - The government should be open to accommodating the demands of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari on the Bangsamoro framework agreement, the former spokesman for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said yesterday.

“They underestimated Nur,” Eid Kabalu told a press conference in Quezon City yesterday, adding that the MNLF should benefit from the peace process with the MILF even though they are not part of the talks.

The MNLF’s Misuari faction is blamed for the attack in six coastal barangays in Zamboanga City that has so far left over a hundred people dead and 70,000 residents displaced.

Kabalu proposed that the provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao be divided into two groups.

He said the mainland provinces like Cotabato, Lanao and Maguindanao should be under the MILF while the island provinces like Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu could be under the MNLF.

“Even historically, the sultanates of Sulu and Maguindanao were separate,” he said.

Kabalu said the Bangsamoro Basic Law could still be amended at this time.

He said the government should also review all previous agreements, citing the sentiment of Basher Alonto, chair of the Metro Manila Muslim Community for Justice and Peace, that many groups and parties felt left out of the peace negotiations that crafted the Bangsamoro framework agreement.

Alonto claimed there was no consultation with all concerned sectors, adding the ongoing violence in Mindanao should move the Aquino government to review the agreement.

Even then, Kabalu said Misuari’s group should not have resorted to violence.

MNLF not left out

Meanwhile, the government peace panel said the MNLF has not been left out of peace negotiations with the MILF.

Government peace panel member Mehol Sadain disputed Misuari’s claims that the government has disregarded them in the peace process, noting that the issues being put on the negotiating table cater to the entire Bangsamoro people.

“We never neglected the aspirations of the Moro National Liberation Front,” he said.

Sadain said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the government panel tried to involve the MNLF by means of convergence between the MNLF and the MILF.

“This is not, however, within our powers, to force them together, because that is to be arranged between the two of them,” he said.           

Panel member Yasmin Busran Lao said the government also invited the MNLF to nominate representatives to the Transition Commission, which will draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

“Unfortunately they did not recommend anyone,” he said.

Somber mood

Amid the hostilities in Zamboanga City, chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer admitted that the mood in the current talks is “somber.”

She said negotiators and members of the secretariat have families in Zamboanga, where armed confrontation between the military and police are continuing.

“We constantly update ourselves with what is going on in Zamboanga and the rest of Mindanao, and we are aware of the situation,” she said.

Ferrer said both panels agreed to work longer hours to thresh out issues in the remaining annexes. – With Jose Rodel Clapano