COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 10, 2012) – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front assailed a former Muslim rebel leader, whose group had signed a peace accord with Manila, for criticizing the Philippines’ peace draft with the MILF that would pave the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro autonomous region.
The Bangsamoro aims to expand the existing ARMM to include several areas in the province of Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Basilan.
But Nur Misuari, who heads a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front, said abolishing the ARMM is illegal since it was the product of the September 1996 peace deal with the MNLF, and it could spark unrest in the mineral-rich, but troubled region of Mindanao.
Misuari also criticized Malaysia for brokering the peace talks between the Philippines and the MILF, now the country’s largest Muslim rebel group.
“Misuari is just making noise. The MILF is fighting for self-determination and rights of the Bangsamoro people and not one tribe alone. Misuari was a failure. He became the ARMM governor but what did he accomplish? He ran in previous elections in Sulu and not only he lost terribly, he also lost the trust and confidence of the Tausug. And he was even ousted as chairman of the MNLF by his leaders,” an MILF rebel leader in Basilan province, Commander Black Jack, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Misuari previously forged an alliance with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement headed by Ameril Umra Kato, who broke away with the larger MILF, after the botched Muslim homeland deal with Manila. The homeland deal was unconstitutional, according to the Supreme Court.
Misuari signed a peace deal with Manila in September 1996 ending decades of bloody war and he eventually because the ARMM governor. But despite the peace accord, there was a widespread disillusionment with the weak autonomy they were granted.
Under the peace agreement, Manila would have to provide a mini-Marshal Plan to spur economic development in Muslim areas in the south and livelihood and housing assistance to tens of thousands of former rebels to uplift their poor living standards.
And 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 launched a new rebellion in Sulu and Zamboanga City, where more than 100 people were killed.
Misuari then escaped by boat to Malaysia, where he had been arrested and deported to the Philippines where he was charged with rebellion.
His arrest in Malaysia, which previously supported the MNLF bid for a separate homeland in Mindanao, was said to be in retaliation for Misuari’s failure to secure the release of dozens of foreigners and Malaysian citizens kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group from two island resorts off Sabah in 2000 and brought to Sulu province.
But Misuari’s fall had severely affected the MNLF which is now heavily divided and rift among its leaders is becoming more apparent. Misuari also ran twice for governor in Sulu province even while under detention, but lost.
He also supported Arroyo’s election bid and her allies in the Senate and Congress in 2004 in exchange for promises that he would be pardoned and freed.
In 2008, the MNLF Central Committee ousted Misuari and named Muslimin Sema, the group’s Secretary General, as its new chairman. But Misuari did not recognize Sema as the legitimate ruler of the MNLF. The MNLF criticized Misuari and branded him as a dictator and said he was no longer effective in running the group.
The MILF, whose leader Salamat Hashim, broke away with the MNLF in 1978, was originally fighting for independence in Mindanao. But when Hashim died from a heart attack, his deputy Murad Ebrahim, took over and pursued a Muslim homeland and eventually a sub-state for the Bangsamoro people in the southern region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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