“I am a registered voter.”
This is the disclosure of Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal during a press briefing
here Thursday.
Amid cheers and exhortations, a beaming Iqbal showed
reporters the back portion of the voter’s identification card issued to him by
the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prove his claim. However, he asked
that the card not be photographed up close, obviously to conceal his true name.
Iqbal, who hails from Datu Odin Sinsuat town, said that he
registered as a voter in Maguindanao sometime in 2013, although he did not
reveal whether he cast a vote during the midterm polls.
Iqbal’s being a registered voter as well as his remaining
hesitation to disclose his identity outside the Moro revolution signifies the
state of transition the MILF is currently in as a result of the Framework
Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) that it inked with government October 2012, and
subsequently, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed March
27 last year.
Through the CAB, the MILF has agreed to end its rebellion
against the Philippine state in exchange for granting the Moro people with a
truly meaningful political autonomy, to be embodied in the envisioned
Bangsamoro Entity.
By abandoning the use of force as a method to achieve its
goals, the MILF committed to decommission its armed wing—the Bangsamoro Islamic
Armed Forces (BIAF)—and set up a political party as its principal means for
contesting elective seats in government.
On Saturday, March 7, the Comelec will conduct a
special registration in Camp
Darapanan
The historic exercise is expected to net around 2,000
voters, mostly combatants who have already started the countdown towards the
day they will ultimately abandon their guns.
Despite the recent threats of scuttling the peace process,
Iqbal said their stronghold communities and mass supporters remain hopeful the
milestones set in the transition roadmap the rebel group agreed with government
will push through.
But the need to respond to the challenges posed by the
fallout of the tragic clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25 has
derailed the transformation of the MILF into a democratic institution.
Iqbal said the MILF central committee’s oversight of
activities related to the formation of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party
(UBJP) had to give way to a focused attention on dealing with the Mamasapano
incident.
“But we are not losing hope,” he assured.
The UBJP was launched Dec. 23 last year in Camp Darapanan
Throughout its existence as a revolutionary organization
since 1984, the MILF has shunned participation in electoral exercises, although
it has not prevented its members, acting on their own, from doing so.
The upcoming plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, slated
to be passed by Congress middle of this year, will be the first time it has
officially sanctioned participation in Philippine elections.
http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2015/03/05/milfs-iqbal-a-registered-voter-since-2013/
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