Ameril Umra Kato. (
MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 22, 2011) – The Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, has on Tuesday vowed to pursue peace in Mindanao as negotiations with Manila continue in an effort to put an end to decades of bloody fighting in the troubled region.
“We are always for peace and we want to resolve the Bangsamoro problem through peaceful negotiations with the Philippine government,” said Ghazali Jaafar, the MILF’s deputy chairman for political affairs.
Manila proposed a wider Muslim autonomy to the MILF, but the rebel group said it would only agree on a sub-state in Mindanao. The MILF said it the government should let the Muslim run their own affairs.
The MILF, a breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), previously branded the five-province Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao as a failure. The region has been rocked by corruption scandals and remains as one of the poorest in the country.
It previously called on the government to amend the Constitution that would allow the creation of a Muslim sub state in Mindanao. President Benigno Aquino’s allies in Congress are now pushing for the amendment of the Constitution, saying, there is a need to change many provisions in the Charter that would benefit the country’s economy, among others.
Peace negotiations ended earlier this month with no major agreement, but both sides had repeatedly committed to hasten the talks.
“The negotiators of the two parties emerged from the meeting room with both sides announcing modest gains that could be nurtured to move forward the peace process towards a political settlement of the Moro Question and the armed conflict that haunted Philippine administrations since independence in 1946,” the MILF said.
Peace negotiators also leveled off on each other’s concepts, and identified common grounds and differences that would further hasten the talks. Both groups agreed to discuss substantive agenda on the next round of peace talks.
Just last week, Nur Misuari, leader of one of two MNLF factions, met with deposed MILF leader Ameril Umra Kato in Maguindanao’s Guindulungan town.
There were speculations that Misuari was trying to lure Kato to join the MNLF.
Misuari is opposed to the government peace talks with the MILF, saying, Manila should first abide by the peace agreement it signed with the MNLF. Misuari signed a peace deal with the Philippine government in September 1996, ending more than 20 years of bloody fighting in the southern Philippines.
After the peace agreement was signed, Misuari became the governor of autonomous region. But many former rebels were disgruntled with the accord, saying, the government failed to comply with some of its provisions and uplift their standards of living. They accused the government of failing to develop the war-torn areas in the south, which remain in mired in poverty, heavily militarized and dependent financially on Manila.
In November 2001, on the eve of the elections in the Muslim autonomous region, Misuari accused the government of reneging on the peace agreement, and his followers launched a new rebellion in Sulu and Zamboanga City, where more than 100 people were killed.
Misuari escaped by boat to Malaysia, but was arrested there and deported to the Philippines. He was eventually freed in 2008 after Manila dropped all charges against him for lack of sufficient evidence. He was also ousted by Muslimin Sema, the MNLF Secretary-General, but Misuari maintained that he is the true leader of the former rebel group.
The details of the talks between Misuari and Kato were not immediately known, but Jaafar said the meeting had no impact on the MILF.
“The meeting between Nur Misuari and Kato has no impact on the MILF. Misuari is just making a scene. He has wild imaginations and insisting on things, and there is no possibility that Kato will join Misuari’s group because their personalities are far different from each other – they are like oil and water,” Jaafar told the Mindanao Examiner.
Misuari, in a television interview broadcast on Tuesday, showed photographs of him and Kato during their November 17 meeting. One photo showed Misuari and Kato raising their fists.
Misuari said Kato’s group was well-armed and far larger than Murad Ebrahim, the MILF chieftain. He said the combined forces of the MNLF and Kato’s group is formidable.
He said the MNLF has tens of thousands of armed members in Mindanao. “If we join forces and call for independence, Mindanao will be independent overnight,” Misuari said during the interview.
The MILF said Misuari may only be using Kato for his own interest. “We cannot do anything about that meeting between Misuari and Kato. Misuari may only use Kato for his own gain. Misuari is a politician,” said Von Al-Haq, the MILF spokesman.
Kato, accused by Philippine authorities as behind the series of deadly attacks in Mindanao in 2008, was earlier disowned by the MILF after he split with the rebel group and formed his own called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and later changed it to Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement after claiming that disgruntled MILF and MNLF members have joined him.
He also threatened to disrupt the peace talks between the MILF and the Aquino government and pursue an independent Muslim state in Mindanao, home to some four million Muslims in a region of about 18 million mostly Christian inhabitants.
Kato had led rebel forces in attacking civilian targets after peace negotiators failed to sign a Muslim homeland in 2008. The Supreme Court declared the accord unconstitutional.
Because of the attacks, police and military authorities have launched an operation to capture him, but Katao managed to elude arrest by hiding inside MILF areas.
Kato has repeatedly criticized Ebrahim for abandoning their struggle for independence and betraying the MILF when he agreed to a secret meeting called by President Aquino in Japan in August.
“Murad corrupted the rights of the Bangsamoro people,” Kato said, adding the MILF chieftain should have consulted his leaders before meeting with Aquino. (Mindanao Examiner)
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