The two rival groups meet in Jeddah to agree on how they will settle their issues
Two rival Moro
groups – the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) – have agreed to iron out their differences and
reactivate the Bangsamoro Coordination Forum, a mechanism that will enable the
groups to discuss their issues.
The agreement was
made after a meeting of both parties in Jeddah on June 12 upon the invitation
of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an influential body which
counts 56 Islamic states as members.
Under the
Bangsamoro Coordination Forum, the MILF and the MNLF agreed to discuss
"common ground" and "explore collaborative efforts at addressing
the concerns of each party," professor Abhoud Syed Linga of the MILF told Mindanews.
Present at the
meeting were various factions of the MNLF, including the one led by former Cotabato City
Misuari was not
present during the meeting but he was represented by lawyer Randolph Parcasio,
doctor Mashur Jundam and Jimmy Labawan, Mindanews said. Misuari is presently
facing a warrant of arrest over the bloody siege of Zamboanga in September 2013,
which left over 200 dead and thousands homeless.
Meanwhile, the
9-member MILF delegation was led by MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, who
also headed the body that crafted the first draft of the law fleshing
out the group's comprehensive peace peace pact with the government
signed in March 2014.
The two groups
signed a joint statement when the meeting ended, the MILF said in an editorial
posted on Luwaran.com.
It was the OIC
that brokered the 1996 peace agreement between the MNLF and the government.
MNLF leaders say the government has yet to fully implement the deal and wants
unfulfilled aspects to be incorporated in the revamped autonomous government in
southern Philippines
The MNLF led the
rebel movement in the south in the 1970s but leadership differences forced the
late Hashim Salamat to break away from the group and create his own
organization that is more religious in orientation. That group has come to be
known as the MILF.
Past
efforts
In 2010, the OIC
convinced the two rival groups to create the BCF in an
effort to unify them towards peace in Mindanao .
Both groups had
agreed to create an ad-hoc secretariat group in subsequent meetings attended by
MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim and Misuari themselves.
But the
developments reached a deadlock after Misuari asked the MILF to dissolve their
organization and re-join the MNLF.
Since the signing
of the Comprehensive Agreement on the
Bangsamoro between the government and the MILF, the MILF and the
MNLF have been communicating with each other on how to deal with their issues.
In fact, new MNLF chairman Abul Khayr Alonto
graced the signing of the government-MILF peace pact and asked Misuari to
support the deal.
The MILF,
meanwhile, has also expressed openness in forging an "alliance" with
the MILF as it acknowledged that the "heyday of a monolithic
organization" has long gone.
In reaction to
the reactivation of the BCF, the MILF said in its June 15
editorial:
"There at
least two ways to achieve this unity; one is good but not reachable, and the
other is practical and the only possible arrangement under current situation.
After all, with changes and the various transformations sweeping across the
Bangsamoro, alliances and coalitions are what matters these days. The heyday of
a monolithic organization is a thing of the past and no longer holds currency
today. People are tired of being dictated on what to do and what not to do.
Moreover, both the MILF and MNLF are supposed to be popularly-based
organizations and therefore it is their obligation to run their respective
organizations by consultation. The people must be involved to run their lives."
The secretary
general of the MNLF-Sema faction, Abdul Sahrin, told Philippine Star the
objectives of the BCF will be:
to reconcile the
polarized MNLF leaderships
to reconcile the
reunited MNLF with the MILF
to establish a
unified MNLF-MILF position on the implementation of OIC 2013 resolution calling
for integration of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement and the Comprehensive
Agreement on the Bangsamoro under the Basic Law
OIC Secretary
General Iyad Ameen Madani is expected to present the outcome of the MILF-MNLF
meeting before the 41st session of the Council of Foreign Minister in Jeddah on
June 18 and June 19.
The peace deal
between the government and the MILF aims to establish the Bangsamoro political
entity that is designed to enjoy greater political and fiscal powers than the
present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which it will replace.
The new
autonomous government will be "ministerial" in form, where people
will elect at least 50 members, who will, in turn, elect a "chief
minister" within themselves.
To prepare for
the expected election of the first batch of Bangsamoro officials in 2016, the
MILF has started forming a political party, to be known as the "United Bangsamoro Justice Party."
http://www.rappler.com/nation/60708-milf-mnlf-talks-jeddah-oic
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