From MindaNews (Jul 27, 2022): MILF Central Committee says ‘peace spoilers’ behind ‘MILF Salamat Wing (By BONG S. SARMIENTO)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Central Committee condemned what it described as “disinformation” by “misguided MILF members acting at the behest of some traditional politicians” behind the so-called ‘MILF Salamat Wing’ whose motive, it said, is to be appointed to the 80-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).
BARMM Interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim. MindaNews file photo by GREGORIO BUENO
“The MILF Central Committee and all its committees and organs remain intact,” the MILF Central Committee said in a statement signed by MILF chair Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim and dated July 24 but released evening of July 26.
The statement noted that the “political statement” of Abdulfatah Delna, who claims to be chair of this alleged wing, “is nothing but an unabashed application letter for membership into the BTA, devoid of any revolutionary principles and designed solely to secure personal political favor at the expense of the organization and its leadership.”
“We cannot and will not tolerate such a brazen act” by what the MILF Central Committee’s statement describes as “peace spoilers.”
Ebrahim is concurrent interim Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and one of the 80 BTA members composing the Bangsamoro parliament.
The MILF-led 80-member BTA has 41 members nominated by the MILF and 39 by the government as mandated by Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM.
RA 11054 is the enabling law of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the peace agreement which the government and the MILF signed after 17 years of negotiations, paving for the creation of the BARMM which replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The BARMM is composed of the core areas of the defunct ARMM – the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan – and Cotabato City and 63 villages from six towns in North Cotabato which voted for inclusion in the BARMM.
Addressed to Marcos
Delna, a deputy commander of the National Guard Front of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, issued a “political statement” dated July 18 and signed by him as “Ad Hoc Chairman” of the “MILF-Salamat Wing,” claimed they are “gaining ground in the Bangsamoro region,” that they are “not a breakaway group or that sort” but “bona fide and legitimate members and officials of the MILF and are trusted persons of the late [MILF] chairman Salamat Hashim.”
Delna’s group supported Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for President. The MILF, through its political party, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, endorsed Vice President Leni Robredo for President.
Addressed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Delna’s statement urged him to appoint the new BTA members from its ranks, pointing out that the MILF’s UBJP supported the presidential bid of Robredo.
Delna claimed that as a “consequence of expressing support and campaigning on the basis of our independent political views as individual voters” for Marcos, he was “expelled” by the MILF on April 27 this year.
According to the MILF Central Committee’s statement, Delna was “suspended” for “overt political acts of supporting a local candidate in Maguindanao who continues to undermine the Peace Process, the MILF, and the transitional government.”
Delna fielded his son, Saad, to run for Mayor of Mangudadatu under the party of (then Sultan Kudarat Governor Suharto) “Teng” Mangudadatu and his wife Bai Mariam who was seeking reelection as Governor of Maguindanao. The UBJP supported the gubernatorial bid and party slate of former Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, Teng’s cousin. Toto’s brother Freddie, won as mayor of Mangudadatu.
Abdullah Hashim, a Member of Parliament in the Bangsamoro and son of the MILF’s founding chair, Salamat Hashim, said the family strongly condemned the use of their father’s name in sowing intrigue to divide the ranks of the MILF. Salamat Hashim died on July 13, 2003.
Hashim noted that the creation of the “MILF-Salamat Wing” puts at risk the peace process.
‘Hidden agenda’
In establishing the “MILF Salamat Wing,” Delna was allegedly acting at the behest of some traditional politicians whom the MILF Central Committee did not name.
“Let this be a fair warning to the peace spoilers. We know you, and our people know your hidden agenda. You will not succeed as you have not succeeded in the past in all your attempts to derail the peace process and take over the fruits of all the struggles of our people,” the statement said.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, BARMM spokesperson and Minister of the Interior and Local Government, said Delna’s group wanted to hijack the peace process by getting into the BTA through appointment as BTA members under the MILF.
The MILF has sent a list of its 41 nominees to the President.
The mandate of the interim BTA was supposed to end on June 30, 2022 when the first set of elected officials shall have taken their oath of office.
But the transition period was extended for another three years until June 30, 2025 through Republic Act 11593 passed last year, resetting the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro region from 2022 to 2025.
Section 2 of the law states that “during the extension of the transition period, the BTA shall continue as the interim government in the BARMM, provided, however, that the President may appoint the 80 new interim members of the BTA who shall serve up to June 30, 2025 or until their successors shall have been elected and qualified.”
Marcos has yet to appoint new members.
Ebrahim, who succeeded Hashim as MILF chair, stressed that the Philippine government, as a matter of bilateral confidence-building, accepts only duly endorsed MILF nominees for positions agreed to be occupied by the MILF.
This has been the case with the MILF peace negotiating panel and the bilateral joint mechanisms such as the BTA, Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, Ad Hoc Joint Action Group and the Joint Task Force on Camp Transformation, among others, the statement pointed out.
https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2022/07/milf-central-committee-says-peace-spoilers-behind-milf-salamat-wing/
“The MILF Central Committee and all its committees and organs remain intact,” the MILF Central Committee said in a statement signed by MILF chair Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim and dated July 24 but released evening of July 26.
The statement noted that the “political statement” of Abdulfatah Delna, who claims to be chair of this alleged wing, “is nothing but an unabashed application letter for membership into the BTA, devoid of any revolutionary principles and designed solely to secure personal political favor at the expense of the organization and its leadership.”
“We cannot and will not tolerate such a brazen act” by what the MILF Central Committee’s statement describes as “peace spoilers.”
Ebrahim is concurrent interim Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and one of the 80 BTA members composing the Bangsamoro parliament.
The MILF-led 80-member BTA has 41 members nominated by the MILF and 39 by the government as mandated by Republic Act 11054 or the Organic Law for the BARMM.
RA 11054 is the enabling law of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the peace agreement which the government and the MILF signed after 17 years of negotiations, paving for the creation of the BARMM which replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The BARMM is composed of the core areas of the defunct ARMM – the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan – and Cotabato City and 63 villages from six towns in North Cotabato which voted for inclusion in the BARMM.
Addressed to Marcos
Delna, a deputy commander of the National Guard Front of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, issued a “political statement” dated July 18 and signed by him as “Ad Hoc Chairman” of the “MILF-Salamat Wing,” claimed they are “gaining ground in the Bangsamoro region,” that they are “not a breakaway group or that sort” but “bona fide and legitimate members and officials of the MILF and are trusted persons of the late [MILF] chairman Salamat Hashim.”
Delna’s group supported Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for President. The MILF, through its political party, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, endorsed Vice President Leni Robredo for President.
Addressed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Delna’s statement urged him to appoint the new BTA members from its ranks, pointing out that the MILF’s UBJP supported the presidential bid of Robredo.
Delna claimed that as a “consequence of expressing support and campaigning on the basis of our independent political views as individual voters” for Marcos, he was “expelled” by the MILF on April 27 this year.
According to the MILF Central Committee’s statement, Delna was “suspended” for “overt political acts of supporting a local candidate in Maguindanao who continues to undermine the Peace Process, the MILF, and the transitional government.”
Delna fielded his son, Saad, to run for Mayor of Mangudadatu under the party of (then Sultan Kudarat Governor Suharto) “Teng” Mangudadatu and his wife Bai Mariam who was seeking reelection as Governor of Maguindanao. The UBJP supported the gubernatorial bid and party slate of former Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, Teng’s cousin. Toto’s brother Freddie, won as mayor of Mangudadatu.
Abdullah Hashim, a Member of Parliament in the Bangsamoro and son of the MILF’s founding chair, Salamat Hashim, said the family strongly condemned the use of their father’s name in sowing intrigue to divide the ranks of the MILF. Salamat Hashim died on July 13, 2003.
Hashim noted that the creation of the “MILF-Salamat Wing” puts at risk the peace process.
‘Hidden agenda’
In establishing the “MILF Salamat Wing,” Delna was allegedly acting at the behest of some traditional politicians whom the MILF Central Committee did not name.
“Let this be a fair warning to the peace spoilers. We know you, and our people know your hidden agenda. You will not succeed as you have not succeeded in the past in all your attempts to derail the peace process and take over the fruits of all the struggles of our people,” the statement said.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, BARMM spokesperson and Minister of the Interior and Local Government, said Delna’s group wanted to hijack the peace process by getting into the BTA through appointment as BTA members under the MILF.
The MILF has sent a list of its 41 nominees to the President.
The mandate of the interim BTA was supposed to end on June 30, 2022 when the first set of elected officials shall have taken their oath of office.
But the transition period was extended for another three years until June 30, 2025 through Republic Act 11593 passed last year, resetting the first regular elections in the Bangsamoro region from 2022 to 2025.
Section 2 of the law states that “during the extension of the transition period, the BTA shall continue as the interim government in the BARMM, provided, however, that the President may appoint the 80 new interim members of the BTA who shall serve up to June 30, 2025 or until their successors shall have been elected and qualified.”
Marcos has yet to appoint new members.
Ebrahim, who succeeded Hashim as MILF chair, stressed that the Philippine government, as a matter of bilateral confidence-building, accepts only duly endorsed MILF nominees for positions agreed to be occupied by the MILF.
This has been the case with the MILF peace negotiating panel and the bilateral joint mechanisms such as the BTA, Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, Ad Hoc Joint Action Group and the Joint Task Force on Camp Transformation, among others, the statement pointed out.
https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2022/07/milf-central-committee-says-peace-spoilers-behind-milf-salamat-wing/
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