If the Moro Islamic Liberation Front wants the peace process to succeed, it should help restore peace and order in the conflict areas of Mindanao. This includes helping neutralize not only its breakaway faction, the Bang-samoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, but also the bandit group Abu Sayyaf. Last Sunday, 10 of the bandits and four Marines were reported killed in an encounter in Sulu.
Until about a year ago, the MILF and Abu Sayyaf were partners in troublemaking in Mindanao, with elements of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist cell thrown in. It is said that many MILF and Abu Sayyaf fighters are related by blood or marriage. In Basilan, Sulu and other provinces, the groups protected each other from pursuing government forces.
The military has been criticized for the persistence of the Abu Sayyaf as a threat for over a decade despite the decimation of its leadership, starting with its founding members Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani and his brother Khadaffy. In several instances, the military pinned part of the blame on the on-and-off peace initiative with the MILF, which allowed Abu Sayyaf bandits to seek sanctuary in MILF-held enclaves. The government has said that with a framework peace agreement signed with the MILF, the Abu Sayyaf, JI and BIFF would be dealt with as peace and order problems.
The MILF should pursue the same line if it wants the peace process to succeed. Now that it has committed to join the social mainstream, it shouldn’t be too hard for the MILF leadership to assist the government in neutralizing banditry and extremist violence. Helping neutralize the Abu Sayyaf would be a great way to show that the MILF is no longer part of the problem but a big part of the solution to the security threats that have long bedeviled Mindanao.