Ex-negotiator urges MILF, MNLF to cooperate for peace

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  --- A former government chief negotiator urged Wednesday the rivals Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to set aside their differences  and jointly build peace in Southern Mindanao.

Lawyer Jesus Dureza, who had also served as presidential adviser on the peace process, said leaders of the two groups must sit down together and discuss how  to cooperate in supporting  the Mindanao peace initiative, now that the peace talks  between the government and MILF are gaining headway.

"There should be a `meeting of the minds' under the spirit of fraternalism, cooperation and amity," Dureza told The Star.

Dureza said it is important  that the MILF figurehead Al-Haj Murad reaches out to leaders of the MNLF to achieve collaboration, in keeping with an inclusive approach of resolving the Mindanao Moro issue.

“And it is also just as important for the MNLF to realize that `convergence and collaboration’ will hasten the process,” Dureza said.

The MILF broke away from  MNLF, which was jointly founded in the late 1960s by Nur Misuari, and Egyptian-trained cleric Imam Salamat Hashim.

Hashim bolted from the MNLF in the early 1980s due to irreconcilable differences with Misuari and eventually  established the MILF, which is more religious in character.

Dureza first made his appeal to the two fronts early this week via his latest column, Advocacy MindaNOW, on a daily newspaper in Davao City.

Dureza said seeking an independent Bangsamoro state is “no longer viable,” apparently referring to Misuari’s bid for an independent, MNLF-led “Bangsamoro Republik.”

“Declaring independence for the Bangsamoro is no longer an option.  It has outlived its own viability. It is no longer the call of the time. It brings more trouble and hardships for your people,” Dureza said.

He also urged Misuari to work within the parameters of the 1996 GPH-MNLF peace agreement in furthering the peace agenda for the communities Misuari claims to represent.

Dureza, on the other hand, also asked the MILF’s central leadership to spearhead an advocacy meant to strengthen a “mainstream Bangsamoro constituency,” which will not totally rely on Malacañang for support in the implementation of any final comprehensive accord with government.

“The entrenched political leaders need to be managed and handled too considering that they will not easily allow and agree to be sidelined when the MILF takes over the driver’s seat in the Bangsamoro governance entity that will be installed, Dureza said.

He also urged Murad to do something to restrain “rogue” factions, such as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), to correct lingering doubts on the MILF’s capability to foster peace and address domestic security issues in areas it wants to group together under a Bangsamoro entity.

The chairman of the MNLF’s largest group, former Cotabato City Vice-Mayor Muslimin Sema, had earlier said the contents of the government-MILF Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro (FAB) are no different in context with the 42 consensus points reached in the tripartite evaluation of the September 2, 1996 GPH-MNLF final peace pact.

The tripartite review of the GPH-MNLF accord involved representatives from both sides, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a bloc of more than 50 Muslim countries.

The three-way effort to resolve all misunderstandings on the implementation of the GPH-MNLF peace agreement began in 2007. - John Unson