MILF, MNLF sure of better peace process under Duterte

COTABATO CITY -- The now converged Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) on Tuesday promised to reciprocate the commitment of President Rodrigo Duterte to the southern peace process.Duterte underscored his administration's desire to put a negotiated closure to the now 45-year Mindanao secessionist conflict in his state of the nation address (SONA) on Monday.Efforts to address the Moro issue have been a drawn-out initiative, spanning six Philippine presidents since the crafting of the December 23, 1976 Tripoli Agreement” in Libya by MNLF founder Nur Misuari and a panel led by Manuel Yan, representing President Ferdinand Marcos.The agreement, brokered by Muammar Gaddafi, then president of Libya, a member-state of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, was the main reference used in the drafting of the Sept. 2, 1996 truce between the MNLF and Malacañang and, subsequently, the government’s compact with the MILF, the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB). There is a possibility he (Duterte) would be the last president we are to negotiate with. We are inspired by his being positive on the peace process. We will reciprocate with honor and vigor, said Muslimin Sema, chair of the largest of three groups in the MNLF.Unlike the faction led by Misuari, the MNLF-Sema group, which is larger and more politically-active, is not hostile to the MILF.

Misuari has strongly been opposing Malacañang’s diplomatic dealings with the MILF.He had even accused President Benigno Aquino III of having abrogated” the MNLF’s final truce with the government by forging a separate deal with the MILF, the vaunted CAB. It is easier to solve the Mindanao problem now while the moderate, older Moro leaders are still alive. The next generation of Moro leaders will surely be radical and dealing with them might be tediously difficult,” Sema said.The MILF’s vice chairman for political affairs, Ghazali Jaafar, said they are certain Duterte would keep his pledge to abide with all agreements between Malacañang and Mindanao’s Moro fronts.Duterte first promised to do so during the campaign period and, subsequently, in an inaugural speech during his assumption to the presidency on June 30.

Jaafar said their trust in Duterte is bolstered by his being from Davao City and his having Maranaw and Lumad ancestry. No one will understand better the Moro issue but Mindanaon,” Jaafar said.The MNLF-Sema group and the MILF had twice crafted in the past six months bilateral agreements binding both to converge in pushing forward a common peace blueprint for the Moro rebellion.The MILF started in the early 1980s only as a small bloc of MNLF officials, led by the Egyptian-trained cleric Salamat Hashim, and eventually broke away and established a bigger group more religious in character due to loss of confidence in Misuari’s leadership.