OIC steps in; Misuari loses Kiram

From the Manila Standard Today (Aug 18): OIC steps in; Misuari loses Kiram

THE influential Organization of Islamic Cooperation will step in to help resolve the conflict between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front, an official said Sunday.

The MNLF has declared independence from the Philippines and announced it will no longer seek further talks or consultations with the government regarding the peace agreement that it signed with it in 1996.

“We understand the OIC is undertaking processes to address these issues,” presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles said in a text message.

“We await word from our facilitator, Indonesia, as chair of the OIC peace committee for the southern Philippines.”

Deles made her statement even as the Sulu Sultanate, the Islamic Tausug state that once ruled over many islands in the Sulu Sea, said it does not support MNLF founder Nur Misuari’s declaration of independence.

Group spokesman Abraham Idjirani said Sultan Jamalul Kiram III was not consulted when Misuari declared independence for Palawan, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, the Zamboanga Peninsula, Sulu and North Borneo or Sabah.

He said Sabah historically and legally was owned by the sultanate, as well as the Sulu archipelago that included Palawan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan and the Zamboanga Peninsula.

“That was his prerogative but as far as Sabah is concerned, we are not in favor of that, Idjirani said.

He said the sultanate declared independence from the Philippines in 2004, but the United Nations did not act on its resolution because it was not recognized as a sovereign state.

Deles did not give more details on the OIC’s next move, but said the bloc “understands the position of the government of the Philippines and our problems.”

MNLF spokesman Absalom Cerveza, who heads the MNLF peace panel, earlier said the Aquino administration had adopted contradicting positions and alibis, resulting in blunders that left them with no other option but to declare independence.

He said the MNLF would now seek recognition of the Moro people’s right to self-determination before the United Nations.

“Misuari is going to the UN to file a petition for the decolonization [of Mindanao) because this part of the country that was annexed unilaterally by the government without the consent of the Moro people,” Cerveza said.

Still, Undersecretary Jose Lorena of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said it would serve Misuari and the MNLF well to engage the government in crafting the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

The legislative measure will pave the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro, a political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which was a product of the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF.

The Bangsamoro, on the other hand, will be a product of the ongoing peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“They need to engage us and articulate their position,” Lorena said.

“It is in the integrated interest of the Bangsamoro people, including the MNLF, to be part of this process,” he added.

Misuari was earlier invited to be part of the Transition Commission that is drafting the Bangsamoro Basic Law, but he declined. Neither did he send a representative of the MNLF to be part of the commission.

“We encourage Mr. Misuari to be a partner in ensuring the welfare of the MNLF communities and actively engage with us in the drafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which will include the agenda of the MNLF,” Lorena said.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/08/19/oic-steps-in-misuari-loses-kiram/