MNLF: Peace pact to divide Muslims

From the Manila Times (Oct 9): MNLF: Peace pact to divide Muslims

The government has been lauded for reaching a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but some Muslim groups are not happy with the pact that will establish a Bangsamoro region. The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) denounced the government for forging the agreement, saying that it is tantamount to abandoning the Tripoli Agreement and the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) signed by MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari and his counterpart in the government. On Monday, the MNLF said that it is doubtful if the new peace agreement would provide the comprehensive and lasting solution to the Mindanao problem. Ustadz Murshi Ibrahim, secretary general of the MNLF Central Committee, told The Manila Times that replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with the Bangsamoro region is tantamount to abandoning the Tripoli Agreement signed in 1976 and the FPA, which was inked in 1996....

Sultan Firdausi Ismael y Abbas, the chairman of the Bangsamoro Party and president emeritus of the Muslim Bar Association, also said that his group does not share the optimism of Malacañang with regard to the agreement concluded between the government and the MILF. “We do not accept the MILF as representative of the Bangsamoro people because presently it is the MNLF which is recognized as such by the OIC,” he added. Abbas said that the report on the framework of agreement came as a total surprise to many Muslims. “What happened to the transparency which the Liberal Party clamored for in protest against the Memorandum of Agreement signed between the government and the MILF during the tenure of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?’ he asked. Abbas also questioned the nature of the framework of agreement. “Is it internal between the MILF and the Philippine government, or is it characterized as an international agreement which would require the concurrence of at least 2/3 of all the members of the Senate pursuant to Article 7, Section 21 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution?” he added. The Bangsamoro party head said that the program of the MILF is vague.  “Who will run the new government in the South?” he asked....

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/top-stories/32804-mnlf-peace-pact-to-divide-muslims