MILF: Leaders of MNLF gather in Marawi City, affirms solidarity with MILF

Posted to the MILF Website (Apr 30): Leaders of MNLF gather in Marawi City, affirms solidarity with MILF



(In photo- left) Ambasador Datu Abul Khayr Alonto , leader of the original Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Beside him is International Monitoring Team head Gen. Dato Sheikh Mokhsin bin Sheikh Hassan of Malaysia. (Joey P. Nacalaban)

On Wednesday, (April 29), the SunStar Cagayan De Oro reported that leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and about one thousand supporters  gathered in Marawi City last Tuesday (April 28) to firm up their call for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and expressed solidarity with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Early morning on same day they ‘walked for peace’ around the city and held a rally at the Banggolo Plaza in Marawi City to acknowledge the peace efforts of both the MILF and the Philippine government, the Sunstar also reported.

Datu Abul Khayr D. Alonto, chairman of the MNLF, said the Bangsamoro people are looking for more peace champions to push the BBL.

While he appreciated the unwavering support of President Benigno Aquino III to the BBL and the whole peace process with the MILF, Alonto admitted that the President’s efforts fall short, especially with his role in the Mamasapano incident that claimed the lives of 44 Special Action Forces of the Philippine National Police, 18 MILF fighters and five civilians last January 5.

Alonto said their eyes are now focused on the Senate committee on local government chaired by Senator Bongbong Marcos, after the House Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL wrapped up deliberations on the proposed law.

“But we feel comfortable with the chairmanship of Senator Marcos. We know he has compassion for the Bangsamoro people,” Alonto said.

The BBL, he said, might be last time the Bangsamoro people will agree to negotiating autonomy for their homeland.

“While we need sincerity to pursue lasting peace in Mindanao, all stakeholders, especially the government should consider the utmost necessity to settle the Bangsamoro issue and a diluted have a price that will be too great,” he added.

The participants to the gathering include surviving members of the original MNLF fighters known in the late 1960s and the 1970s as the black shirts, emissaries and representatives of the MILF, the government peace panel and the International Monitoring Team headed by its current head of mission Major General Dato Sheikh Mokhsin bin Sheikh Hassan of Malaysia.

Alonto also reiterated their solidarity with the MILF, saying that they share the same cause, which is to “assert the Bangsamoro people’s right to self-determination.”

He said the MNLF under his leadership and the MILF have set aside their differences and agreed to work together after he and MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim signed a communiqué for cooperation at Camp Darapanan on January 5.

.Meanwhile, IMT head of mission Major General Dato said he is happy with the progress in the peace process, despite the setbacks caused by the Mamasapano incident.

Overall, he said, with the ceasefire mechanisms in place, proper coordination between the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and the MILF have prevented violent confrontations.

“We have seen how MILF fighters move out of their positions to give way to government operations,” Dato said.

Peace, he added, “should be cherished by the Filipino people.” 

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