MNLF belittles reports of uniting with rivals

From the Manila Standard Today (Jun 6): MNLF belittles reports of uniting with rivals
 

AN OFFICIAL of the Moro National Liberation Front said Friday his group’s unification with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front as being pushed by the House of Representatives could not happen and was a political maneuver to gain support for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

MNLF spokesman Absalom Cerveza said his group, which comprises entirely of Joloanons, will not unite with the MILF since it was composed mainly of Maguindanaons and the two groups had tribal differences.

“It will not work because of tribal differences,” Cerveza said.

The unification of the MNLF and MILF unity was stipulated in House Bill 5811 of the “Basic Law on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region,” a substitute bill to HB 4994, the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong, chairman of the Committee on Muslim Affairs, has incorporated the move to unite the two rebel factions on the premise relating to the 42 contentious points in the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the government and the MNLF that has been reviewed by the Philippine government, the MNLF and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Loong said this would “certainly pave the way for the reconciliation of the MNLF and MILF positions and the unity of the two liberation movement.”

Loong is considered one of the prominent leaders of the MNLF during the time of its founding chairman Nur Misuari at the height of the Mindanao rebellion in the 70s.

But Cerveza contradicted Loong’s position, saying the MNLF could not work with the MILF as a result of the clout of the Maguindanaons.

Cerveza says the MNLF-MILF unity move by congress is a mere political persuasion aimed at gaining support from the MNLF for the eventual passage of the BBL and leading to the establishment of the Bangsamoro Entity.

He says the unification of the MNLF and MILF will instead create complex problems as they have differences―particularly when the MILF broke with the MNLF in the 1980s.

“If they want unity to work, the MILF will have to submit themselves under the MNLF, being the governing body,” Cerveza pointed out.

 

Cerveza says several sectors including the OIC have long been pushing for the MNLF-MILF unification, but their efforts failed and mainly because of the government’s abrogation of the 1996 final peace agreement and the 1976 Tripoli Agreement that led to the declaration of Mindanao independence by Misuari in 2012.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/06/06/mnlf-belittles-reports-of-uniting-with-rivals/