MNLF has no plans to abandon 'war for independence' in Zambo

From InterAksyon (Sep 16): MNLF has no plans to abandon 'war for independence' in Zambo

Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chair Nur Misuari has no plan to order his men to abandon their “war for independence” in Zamboanga City, his spokesman Absalom Cervesa said Monday, after fierce fighting followed the collapse of a cease-fire at the weekend.

Monday noon, two MG520 attack helicopters had started to unleash rockets on some identified positions of the rebels in Barangay Sta. Catalina.

The military has yet to give an update of what was described as a "calibrated air strike" on villages where the MNLF rebels are still holding out.

 “As far as I am concerned, as a spokesperson, Chairman Misuari told me, ‘we will continue the war’,” Cervesa said, speaking partly in Filipino.

He also dismissed reports that the MNLF did not honor the reported “negotiated ceasefire” and set “conditions” that were never implemented.

 “Wala namang kundisyon, e. Hindi naman kami ang nanghingi ng ceasefire. As
far as [the] MNLF is concerned, walang cease-fire pero sila ang nag-offer ng
cease-fire and alam mo naman mga Islam, mga Muslim ‘yan. Sabi nga sa
kanilang libro, if your enemy offers to talk huwag mo i-reject. Kaya si
chairman accepted ‘yung offer ni Jejomar Binay, [ang] ating Vice President and we were hopeful na it will end the standoff, pero wala,” he explained.

It was Binay who broke late Friday night the news of a cease-fire arising from initial dialogue between Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Misuari to end the crisis.
Cervesa confirmed the dialogue and said that they were expecting the implementation of the ceasefire--by midnight Saturday, per Binay--and withdrawal [of troop positions] the following day, but this never happened as hostilities resumed early Sunday morning.

“Nung isang gabi (Saturday), [the] chairman woke me up about 1 o’clock and he asked me kung puwede ako makatulong to supervise the peaceful withdrawal kasi sabi niya there was already an agreement between Gazmin and Vice President Jejomar Binay na magkaroon ng cease-fire. So hindi naman niya pwedeng i-reject yung offer dahil sabi niya okay. That was supposed to be done about 7 o’clock the following day but wala din nangyari. [About] 4:30 [a.m.] the following morning, nag-umpisa na naman ang barilan…So until now it is continuing,” he said.

He said they did not ask for conditions because what they only wanted was for a “simultaneous cease-fire and simultaneous withdrawal.”

Declaration of independence 'irrevocable, final'

Cervesa also chided some government officials, whom he did not identify, for using the situation for their own political advantage.

“To the government, put your act together. Huwag na tayo magpulitika sa panahong ito. Kami, the MNLF will continue whatever it has to do until the end. Kasi maraming nagsasawsaw e. Maraming nagbibigay ng kanya-kanyang kuro-kuro. [But they don't] put their act together and come up with one solution,” he said.

“We went there to war. Now, if government would like to end the war it has to come up with a good solution acceptable to both sides,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Cervesa said the declaration of “independence” by Misuari last August 12 in Sulu was “irrevocable”.

“The chairman said [it's] irrevocable and final. But [they] will have to announce properly before they can report the matter to the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) in the next ministerial meeting,” he said.

“No surrender, no retreat. The MNLF letterhead says,  ‘to victory or to the grave’.

When Muslims go to war, they don’t expect to return home alive. To them it's is a privilege to become a martyr for the sake of the war they are considering ‘jihad’. As I was saying yesterday, even if you wipe out all the people there, in less than a year probably or two, there will be another group that will wage war with this government,” he added.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/70837/mnlf-has-no-plans-to-abandon-war-for-independence-in-zambo