MILF members brandish their weapons in this file photo at their stronghold in Maguindanao province, Philippines. Source: Bong S. Sarmiento
THE largest Moro rebel group in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao has called on legislators to approve the law creating a new Bangsamoro region to prevent violent Islamic extremism from rearing its ugly head again.
Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, chairperson of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), appealed to Congress to approve the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which would create a new autonomous area in the Mindanao region, as four senators visited the guerillas’ main camp in Maguindanao province last week as part of the public consultation for the proposed measure.
“We’re hoping the BBL will be passed this time around, otherwise we will be facing a difficult path,” Ebrahim said, noting that failed peace agreements in the past led to escalation of violence or the rise of Islamic extremist groups.
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He was reportedly referring to the Memorandum on Ancestral Domain in 2008 that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional, triggering a war led by disgruntled MILF commanders in Central Mindanao region.
The disgruntled MILF leaders eventually formed what is now known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Over 600,000 civilians were uprooted from their homes by the 2008 war, the world’s largest displacement at the time.
In May last year, Islamic State-inspired militants belonging to the Maute Group attacked Marawi City in a bid to establish a caliphate there, displacing more than 350,000 civilians.
Government forces defeated the Maute Group after five months of fierce fighting that left the city in shambles and some 1,100 killed, mostly Islamic militants.
File photo shows Muslim children waving green flaglets in support of the peace process between the government and the MILF. Source: Bong S. Sarmiento
The failure of the government to deliver the goods of the peace agreement with the MILF were among the factors the Maute Group reportedly exploited to lure recruits.
In pushing for the enactment of the BBL, Ebrahim said the bill “has the support of majority of Muslims in the proposed new Bangsamoro region,” which would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Juan Miguel Zubiri, a senator from Mindanao who chairs the Senate subcommittee on BBL, said they are hoping to approve the measure before Congress goes on break by the end of March.
President Rodrigo Duterte warned recently that war will erupt in Mindanao with the non-passage of the BBL, which he said seeks to address the historical injustices committed against the Moro people.
Duterte’s peace adviser, Jesus Dureza, said the chief executive is keen “on going even to the extent of issuing an executive order to create a new Bangsamoro region if Congress fails to approve the proposed measure.”
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In a statement, Dureza said that Duterte and MILF leaders recently met in Davao City where the President reassured the rebels he will push for the early passage of the BBL ahead of the shift to federalism.
“Stressing that he can use the inherent powers of the presidency, he is ready to carve out through an executive order the area for the Bangsamoro for their self rule,” Dureza said.
Dureza said that the passage of the BBL was among Duterte’s promises during the presidential campaign.
“We call on Filipinos to all help and contribute to the realization of this long-awaited aspiration of the Bangsamoro,” Dureza said.
The war waged by the MILF against the government for four decades, ending with the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in 2014, has killed more than 120,000 individuals from all sides.
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