ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 18, 2014) – Philippine authorities stopped a group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front members from putting a political headquarters in Zamboanga City after villagers panicked from the construction and informed police and military about it.
A small group of International Monitoring Team led by a Malaysian contingent and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group also rushed to Zamboanga to defuse the tension in the area. The local mayor Maria Isabelle Salazar was also shocked to get the news about the MILF headquarters in the village of Cawit and stopped its construction.
The head of the Malaysian peace monitor Colonel Zulkipli Hashim and former rebel-turned-soldier Major Abdurasad Sirajan, of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group held a dialogue with the MILF headed by Jusali Musali and explained to him that they cannot put up a political office in Zamboanga City, which is not even included in the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement signed in October 2012.
The accord paves the way for the putting up of a new Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.
Musali apologized for their action and ordered workers to stop the building of the political office. He said his action was unilateral and not sanctioned by the MILF Central Committee.
Manila is currently negotiating peace with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, in an effort to forge a deal that would put an end to decades of bloody fighting in the South. (Mindanao Examiner)
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