MILF prepares to join Phil. political and democratic process

From the Philippine News Agency (Sep 23): MILF prepares to join Phil. political and democratic process

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is preparing itself to participate in a democratic process once the new Bangsamoro political entity is in place in Mindanao, a ranking MILF official said.

With the ongoing peace process, Sammy Al-Mansoor, chief of staff of the MILF's military arm - the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), said on Sunday that the MILF, through its Bangsamoro Political Party (BPP), will actively participate in the 2016 plebiscite that will determine the fate of the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement.

To prepare the MILF in democratic process, A-Mansoor said a seminar workshop was held under the sponsorship of German non government organization Kondrad Adenauer Foundation, the Institute for Autonomy and Governance and Institute for Bansamoro Studies held at the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute (BLMI) training hall in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

“This only goes to show that we are now gearing towards ballots instead of bullets,” Al-Mansoor said. He is also the chair of MILF's interim committee for information of the BPP.

He said the creation of MILF's political party was a confirmation of status from revolutionary struggle to parliamentary struggle once the Bangsamoro political entity is submitted to the people for ratification.

Since its creation, the MILF was not participating in any government political and democratic processes claiming it was divisive and highly irregular.

About 45 MILF political leaders from various parts of the proposed Bangsamoro political area joined the seminar facilitated by Lawyer Benedicto Bacani of the IAG.

Mohammad Ameen, MILF central committee secretariat head, urged the political officers to become effective workers of the future Bangsamoro political party.

Ameen said a stable political party is necessary to complement the ministerial Bangsamoro government that will administer the government for Bangsamoro people in areas to be included in the new political entity in southern Philippines.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=568472