Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao – Apparently wanting to send a strong message to the government, the Central Committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) decided yesterday not to join the special registration of voters conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) here.
The MILF leadership cited the uncertain fate of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“When there is no BBL, there is no Bangsamoro government,” said MILF Vice Chairman for Political Affairs Gadzali Jaafar, who only showed up at the registration center to express the Central Committee’s sentiments.
Men and women from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) (L) combatants file their registration to qualify for voter identification cards in Sultan Kudarat southern Philippines, on March 7, 2015. Hundreds of Muslim rebels lined up in the Philippines to register as voters, keeping faith with a 2014 peace pact that has been put in doubt by a clash that left 44 policemen dead. AFP PHOTO / MARK NAVALES
“Ang buhay ng BBL ngayon ay 50-50 (fifty-fifty), so the Central Committee has decided to wait further until the enactment into law of the BBL,” he added.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the House Adhoc Committee on the proposed BBL, had earlier announced that the panel decided to scrap the unconstitutional provisions in the peace measure that would dilute the powers of six government bodies and agencies – the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Commission on Audit (COA), Commission of Human Rights (CHR), the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The scrapping of the unconstitutional provisions will dilute the proposed BBL crafted by peace negotiators from both the government and the MILF, something the secessionist group is against.
FROM BULLETS TO BALLOTS – Von Al-Haq, spokesperson of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), fills out a registration form for a Commission on Elections (Comelec) voter’s ID that would allow him to vote in the upcoming 2016 elections.The symbolic registration of Al-Haq and hundreds of BIAF-MILF combatants was held yesterday at the group’s stronghold, Camp Darapanan, in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao. (Alexander D. Lopez)
Rodriguez’s claim was disputed by Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong, chairman of the House Committee on Muslim Affairs, saying the ad hoc panel has not convened since last month.
While the MILF Central Committee snubbed the special registration, more than a thousand fighters and field commanders of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), the MILF’s armed component, came out and registered themselves as voters that will enable them to participate in 2016 elections.
BIAF spokesperson Von Al-Haq led his men during the registration process that was witnessed and supervised by top Comelec officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and central office. Unarmed combatants of the MILF, in civilian clothes, were seen lining up at the registration center.
Jaafar clarified that it’s only the members of the Central Committee who will not register during the special registration and field commanders and fighters were not barred from registering.
“They can register now,” Jaafar said.
Authorities expected more than a thousand fighters to come out and register during the special registration period.
Comelec Commissioner Al Parreño, together with Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) Chairman Henrietta De Villa and Comelec ARMM Regional Director Ray Sumalipao, personally witnessed the special registration of MILF fighters.
“I’m happy,” said Al-Haq, adding that the last time that he joined the elections was during the time of the late President Corazon Aquino.
Sumalipao lauded the efforts of the MILF and the support it provided for the realization of the special registration of voters.
He said that the special registration is the brainchild and joint efforts of both the government and MILF during the peace process.
“This is to show that we are sincere in attaining lasting peace in Mindanao,” he added.
Meanwhile, De Villa told the MILF fighters that they are making history as they decided to register and vote in 2016 elections.
“Registration is the most important part of the electoral process. It is the entry point to the right of suffrage and the responsibility to participate in creating a government,” De Villa pointed out.
The special registration was also witnessed by the members of the Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities from both the government and the MILF; members of the International Monitoring Team (IMT); and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).
Meanwhile, Jaafar further said that negative statements of some senators and congressmen continue to hurt the Moro people of Mindanao.
The peace process was thrown into doubt on January 25 when MILF forces and other armed groups ambushed police commandos going after Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the world’s most wanted Islamic militants.
The fighting left 44 policemen dead and sparked a public backlash, causing Congress to suspend debates on the proposed self-rule law.
The MILF had already returned some of the dead commandos’ weapons and pledged to go after other militants sought by the Philippine courts, but rejected Aquino’s demand that it surrender those who took part in killings.
Rebel leaders said they would impose their own sanctions on those found at fault.
The Senate and the House of Representatives have since said they will resume discussions on the BBL which they said would likely pass by mid-June.
Al Haq said yesterday the high rebel turnout was proof they remained committed to the peace process.
“We’re very confident that the peace process will continue,” said Al Haq, adding he last voted in 1986 before becoming a full-time guerrilla.
http://www.mb.com.ph/moro-rebel-leaders-opt-to-snub-voters-registration-citing-bbl/
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