Nur Misuari is the founding chair of the Moro National Liberation Front, a secessionist political organization which started in 1969. In this March 5, 2013 file photo, Misuari gestures during a press conference in Taguig, Philippines. AP/Aaron Favila, file
Fugitive Nur Misuari's support of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte's presidential run was not given in exchange for the full implementation of the peace compact between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Philippine government, his legal aide said Tuesday.
Misuari, founding chair of the MNLF, which fought the government for more than 30 years, endorsed Duterte’s candidacy last Sunday.
Lawyer Randolph “Bong” Parcasio, Misuari’s designated representative in engagements with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said Misuari's support for Duterte was voluntary and that it was his first time to endorse a presidential candidate.
The OIC, a bloc of more than 50 Muslim states, including petroleum-exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa, helped broker the 1996 final peace agreement between the rebel group and the Philippine government.
Parcasio said Misuari and Duterte are long-time friends.
Misuari is hiding somewhere in Sulu and is wanted for having allegedly instigated the siege of several barangays in Zamboanga City by a faction of the MNLF in 2013. The fighting exacted heavy casualties on the military and the MNLF and dislocated more than 100,000 residents.
RELATED: Duterte, MILF want to bring peace in Mindanao
Parcasio said Misuari’s support for Duterte may have come because of the mayor's overt recognition of the Moro issue as a political problem and his “patriarchal style” of serving Davao City’s Muslim communities.
“He has not endorsed any presidential candidate before,” said Parcasio, who was Misuari’s regional executive secretary when he was governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao from 1996 to 2001.
Misuari first endorsed Duterte’s bid for the presidency on Sunday via phone patch from Sulu. The endorsement was aired over a public address system during a gathering of senior MNLF members in Kidapawan City, the capital of Cotabato province.
Misuari’s statement was immediately reported by Central Mindanao radio network Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation, which operates the influential Catholic stations dxND, dxMS and dxOM in the cities of Kidapawan, Cotabato and Koronadal, respectively.
"Do not fear, give your vote to our brother Rodrigo Duterte. He is the candidate of the MNLF," Misuari reportedly said.
Sources in Sulu, among them senior MNLF officials, said Misuari’s support for Duterte was not a “horse trade” either for exoneration from rebellion cases against him if the mayor is elected president.
“It was neither something in exchange for the full implementation, in 'letter and spirit', of the 1996 final peace agreement between the government and the MNLF,” Parcasio said.
RELATED: After 8 years, government-MNLF peace pact review ends
The government, the OIC and MNLF completed the tripartite review of the now 19-year-old agreement in late January.
The three-way effort was prompted by misunderstandings on the implementation of many of the agreement's sensitive provisions. The tripartite review, which started in 2007, resulted in the three parties agreeing to implement four key areas, including the establishment of the Bangsamoro Development Assistance Fund for socio-economic development projects in MNLF communities.
The parties also agreed to the referral of the agreement on the co-management of strategic minerals to the Oversight Committee created by Republic Act 9054, the MNLF's participation in the Bangsamoro Transition Commission for the Bangsamoro territory proposed by the Bangsamoro Basic Law and the creation of a tripartite implementation monitoring committee.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/03/08/1560797/no-horse-trading-misuaris-endorsement-duterte-aide-says
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