By Carmelito Q. Francisco, BusinessWorld

 
DAVAO CITY -- ABOUT a thousand members and leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) gathered yesterday in Lupon, Davao Oriental, to express intent towards reunification and pursue the peace process with the government as one group.

The gathering -- jointly initiated by the two revolutionary organizations which had formed a single movement early in its resistance to the Marcos dictatorship -- was an initial attempt for the two sides to find common ground again, along with the government, and resolve issues relating to the Bangsamoro conflict in the country’s south.

The MILF broke away from the MNLF in the late 1970s.

PAST AGREEMENTS

In his message during the event, which was broadcast via mobile telephone, Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF Central Committee first vice-president, said this is the “best time” to work together for peace with the government under President Rodrigo R. Duterte, the country’s first president from Mindanao.

“This [conflict] can be resolved,” said Mr. Jaafar as he acknowledged the Duterte administration’s move to discuss with the two fronts how to implement the various agreements signed jointly or separately with the two groups.

The Tripoli Agreement was the first pact signed in 1975 between the still solid MNLF and the government, then under Ferdinand E. Marcos’s martial-law regime, through the intercession of Libya and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

A group led by the late Hashim Salamat later formed the MILF and broke from the Nur Misuari-led group.

During the Ramos administration, Mr. Misuari’s MNLF signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996, which paved the way for his leadership of the ARMM or Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (The ARMM was organized in 1989, on the watch of President Corazon C. Aquino, following a plebiscite that year.)

On the other hand, the MILF forged a peace agreement with the government in 2014, on the watch of President Benigno S. C. Aquino III. From that agreement, a proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) would have created a new Bangsamoro political and geographic entity, replacing the ARMM.

The BBL, however, was derailed in the previous Congress, following the political fallout on the heels of the Mamasapano operation in January 2015, an uncoordinated terror hunt that led to the slaughter of police operatives in the hands of MILF fighters.

HIGH HOPES

At yesterday’s gathering, Jimmy Labawan, MNLF vice-chairman, urged the two groups to unite “because it is in unity and solidarity that we will be able to achieve peace.”

“We are tired as thousands of lives have been sacrificed,” said Mr. Labawan, as he took note of the revolution which started about four decades ago.

Mr. Jaafar said the task in resolving the problem lies largely with the government as the Moro organizations clearly both want the right to self-determination.

They have high hopes in achieving that, he said, with Mr. Duterte presumed to have a deeper understanding than previous presidents of the history of Mindanao and the Moro struggle.

“We [MILF and MNLF] are not your enemy,” Mr. Jaafar said at the meeting that was also attended by representatives of the police and the military as well as members of the International Monitoring Team, the body monitoring the implementation of the cease-fire between the government and the MILF.

Early this month, the government panel headed by Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus G. Dureza met with MILF leaders in Kuala Lumpur to start discussions on how to move forward and implement the peace agreements even before a new Bangsamoro law is passed.