CAMP DARAPANAN, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao — Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte has personally appealed to the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front central committee to keep the peace between its group
and the Philippine Government despite the non-passage of the Bangsamoro Basic
Law in Congress.
In a meeting Saturday with the MILF, Duterte, standard
bearer of the PDP-Laban, asked the leaders of the rebel group to “postpone any
action that might derail peace.”
He said the enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law was “a
promise by the government, and not by an administration.”
But Duterte said he did not go to the camp to campaign
despite throwing potshots at political opponent Manuel “Mar” Roxas II,
presidential bet of the ruling Liberal Party.
He said he recognizes the decision of the MILF leadership to
give its members the freedom to choose the country’s leaders.
MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar,
meanwhile, hinted that the organization was attracted to Duterte’s hardline
stance against illegal drugs and criminality.
“Yan ang gustong-gusto namin,” Jaffar said, adding Islam
forbids the use, manufacture and sale of illegal drugs.
Duterte said he had long been worried about the failure of
the present government to pass a law that would have ended decades of conflict
with the MILF.
“I know you are very, very disappointed,” the mayor said.
“Let me propose another setup just to make everyone happy.”
He also lamented that the other presidential candidates have
allegedly given little attention to Mindanao .
Duterte said he will push for a federal setup akin to the
proposed Bangsamoro but at the same time asked for the MILF’s trust in handling
law enforcement in the early stages of the autonomous government.
He said the government would gradually hand over law
enforcement to the Bangsamoro leadership once it proves itself capable for the
job.
Jaafar, meanwhile, emphasized that the Bangsamoro government
would be “democratic, and not Islamic.”
http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2016/02/27/duterte-asks-milf-to-maintain-peace-with-govt/
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