Is there now a ‘revolutionary government’ in Mindanao?

From the Mindanao Examiner (Jul 29): Is there now a ‘revolutionary government’ in Mindanao?





Nur Misuari (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

The Moro National Liberation Front which signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996 has reportedly released a statement and read this to its members in various camps in the southern Philippines.

The statement, which suggested a “United Federate States of Bangsamoro Republik,” said it has established a revolutionary government constitution in the southern region, home to minority Muslim tribes in the largely Catholic region. 

Preamble

It said: “We, the united people, Lumads, Muslims, and Christians of Bangsamoro Republik, exercising our inherent sovereignty, do hereby establish this constitution. We manifest our common wish to live together in peace and harmony, to preserve the heritage of the past, and to cherish and sustain the promise of the future.”

“We uphold the diversity of our religions, cultures and traditions. Our differences enrich us. The seas brings us together, they do not separate us. Our islands sustain us; our aspirations and dreams as a nation enlarge us and make us stronger.”

It added: “Our ancestors, who made their homes on these islands, displaced no other people. Having known war, we hope for peace. Having been divided, we wish unity and we seek freedom. We extend to all nations what we seek from each: peace, friendship, cooperation, and love in our common humanity. With this constitution we humbly implore the aid of our Maker and do ordain this constitution.”

Just recently, Libyan firebrand Nur Misuari, who heads the MNLF, expressed his disappointment over Manila’s failure to comply with the provisions in the peace accord and warned of renewed war if the government abrogates the agreement.

Misuari also asked the United Nations to send peace keepers in Mindanao to prevent the possible breakout of war. 

End Tripartite Review

But Teresita Deles, the Presidential peace adviser, denied Misuari’s allegations that Manila wanted to abrogate the peace accord. 

Deles explained that while the government’s position is to bring the tripartite review process to a proper completion, she said the Aquino administration will continue to engage relevant parties of the MNLF, through the existing mechanism, to find a just and comprehensive political solution in the Mindanao conflict.

Deles said after almost six years of tripartite review, a joint review process had already established consensus points and some joint mechanisms and actions particularly between MNLF representatives and the Muslim autonomous regional government.

“From the start, what the government proposed to complete was the review process, not the closure of the peace process or the abrogation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement,” she said.

The review process is being facilitated by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, specifically its Peace Committee for the Southern Philippines (OIC-PCSP) which is headed by Indonesia.

Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa advised Manila to continue to exercise patience even in the face of provocation as he reiterated Jakarta’s support for the peace process in Mindanao.

Bangsamoro State

Misuari has previously denounced the peace talks between the Aquino government and rival rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front after negotiators signed an accord that would create the Bangsamoro state.

The Muslim homeland would replace the existing Muslim autonomous region which is composed of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao provinces, including the cities of Marawi and Lamitan. And several more areas in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato would also be included in the new autonomous region, which Misuari said violated the 1996 peace accord.

Misuari previously said that the Bangsamoro agreement might be a recipe for a crisis which may include war. He and Mujahab Hashim, the MNLF’s Islamic Command Council chairman, have raised strong objections to the government’s signing of the accord with the MILF.

“Because there is no other recourse now for the (MNLF), at least the majority of the senior leaders of the MNLF, we have no other recourse but to go back to the original objective of arms struggle,” Hashim warned.
Failure

The MILF, a breakaway faction of the MNLF, previously branded the Muslim autonomous region as a failure. The region has been rocked by corruption scandals and remains as one of the poorest in the country. 

It previously called on the government to amend the Constitution that would allow the creation of a Muslim sub-state in Mindanao. President Benigno Aquino’s allies in Congress are now pushing for the amendment of the Constitution, saying, there is a need to change many provisions in the Charter that would benefit the country’s economy, among others.

After the 1996 peace accord with the MNLF, Misuari became the governor of autonomous region. But many former rebels were disgruntled with the accord, saying, the government failed to uplift their standards of living. 

They accused the government of failing to develop the war-torn areas in the South, which remain in mired in poverty, heavily militarized and dependent financially on Manila.

In November 2001, on the eve of the elections in the Muslim autonomous region, Misuari accused the government of reneging on the peace agreement, and his followers launched a new rebellion in Sulu and Zamboanga City, where more than 100 people were killed.

Misuari escaped by boat to Malaysia, but was arrested there and deported to the Philippines. He was eventually freed in 2008 after Manila dropped all charges against him for lack of sufficient evidence. He was also ousted by Muslimin Sema, the MNLF Secretary-General, but Misuari maintained that he is the true leader of the former rebel group.
 
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