Former rebels attend fora on Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 21): Former rebels attend fora on Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro 

While their leaders have expressed opposition to the proposed convergence of two Moro fronts in Mindanao, former guerillas of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao have welcomed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

They actively participated in a forum Tuesday in Barangay Kauran, Ampatuan, Maguindanao where MILF leaders and non-government organizations disseminate information about the FAB.

"Any peace deal between the GPH and MILF will not discriminate the MNLF," Professor Rabie Angkal of the Cotabato City State Polytechnic College told former MNLF fighters.

Barangay Kauran is a recognized peace and development community established after the 1996 peace accord was signed by Manila and MNLF. It was brokered by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The other day, a bigger and more politically active faction of the MNLF, led by former Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, has expressed opposition to calls for convergence of the MNLF and MILF, saying it was an insult to the OIC which brokered the peace process.

The former MNLF combatants and their families and relatives listened as speakers from the forum on FAB explained the intricacies of the upcoming peace agreement.

"It is inclusive and never exclusive to the MILF," Angkal said.

The new political entity the FAB has envisioned will replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which Malacanang described as "failed experiment."

Organized by the Kadtatabanga Foundation for Peace and Development Advocates, Inc., a non-government organization whose members include MNLF and MILF members, the forum aims to educate the Moro masses about the peace deal where they are considered stakeholders.

It also aims to solicit support from all sectors so any peace deal will not fail unlike the previous Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain which signing did not push through.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=607691