MILF forms political party, entice bets

From the Manila Bulletin (Apr 10): MILF forms political party, entice bets

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has formed its political party to “continue the struggle” for self-determination without the use of guns starting from the 2016 synchronized national,  regional and national elections.

Ghazali Jaafar, vice chairman for political affairs of the 11,000-strong MILF, announced this latest move in the face of an impending completion by a 15-member transition commission of its draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) for subsequent review by the Office of the President and legislation by Congress.

The MILF political party called United Bangsamoro Justice Party will field candidates in the 2016 polls for elective officials of the would-be created Bangsamoro new autonomous political entity (NAPE), according to Jaafar.

Jaafar said the MILF political party, which has been submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission for consideration before accreditation by the Commission on Elections, has already established chapters in major areas of the Bangsamoro entity, such as the five provinces of ARMM.

“We have already named chairs(of chapters)  in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao and other areas,” Jaafar was quoted as saying.

With the political party, Iqbal says the rebels “will continue the struggle, but no longer with arms,” Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF peace panel and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, said Tuesday.

The formation of the MILF political party came after the government and the MILF signed last March 27 the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the summation of all peace deals they had earlier forged to carve the more powerful NAPE.

According to Jaafar, the party was formed weeks ago and has chapters now in major areas included in the Bangsamoro entity proposed for establishment next year in replacement of the 24-year old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Envisioned as core territory of the Bangsamoro region the present geographical area of ARMM (Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi as well as Marawi and Lamitan cities), the municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte and 39 villages in Pigcawayan, Kabacan, Carmen, Aleosan, Pikit and Midsayap towns in North Cotabato.

Majority of residents of the Bangsamoro core territory voted for autonomy in the 2001 plebiscite for ARMM expansion. They would be asked anew of their preference in another plebiscite next year for the ratification of a Congress-legislated BBL.

Jaafar and Iqbal alongside Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita “Ging” Deles and Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu held a press conference last Sunday in Buluan town where the elected provincial official hosted that same day a grand kanduli or thanksgiving banquet for the signing of the CAB.

The two MILF leaders did not mention at the press conference about the formation of the political party, joining instead Sec. Deles and Gov, Mangudadatu in campaigning for public support to the passage of the BBL and its eventual ratification, and other processes concerning the implementation of the CAB.

The MILF officials, in another report, said their political party welcome any candidate as long as “he or she is for the good of the Bangsamoro.

“It did not mean that if they are not MILF members, they will not be allowed to run anymore,” Iqbal said.

Deles also announced Tuesday that with the MILF’s massive drive for the implementation of the CAB, the government is expecting “a growing legion of peace advocates campaigning for the entrenchment of the Bangsamoro government.”

“I think we can be confident about the results of the (2015) plebiscite,” Deles said on Sunday in Buluan where she attended a thanksgiving hosted by Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu for the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.

Gov. Mangudadatu, who was inducted Sunday as elected president of the Alliance for Just Peace and Development – an apolitical group of professionals supporting the current peace process, has expressed optimism the BBL, once enacted, would be ratified overwhelmingly in Maguindanao.

http://www.mb.com.ph/milf-forms-political-party-entice-bets/