'Misguided' Misuari should forget his own interests – Palace

Amid reports that the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) had declared independence for Mindanao, Malacañang on Wednesday said former MNLF leader Nur Misuari is "misguided" and that he should forget his own interests so that Mindanao can finally attain peace. "We are for peace in Muslim Mindanao and that’s the thrust of this administration to ensure that there will be peace in Mindanao so that the peace dividends can flow to the peoples of Mindanao," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said during a press briefing on Wednesday. The Aquino administration is in the final stages of negotiations for a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is expected to result in a Bangsamoro Political Entity. The political entity will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the existence of which is a product of the 1976 Tripoli agreement which the MNLF had negotiated. Some members of the MNLF, from which the MILF originally broke away from, have expressed dismay over the framework agreement. It has been reported that, in reaction, the MNLF would declare independence after the government supposedly refused to talk to them, and even abrogated the peace pact they signed in 1996., The Palace, however, had denied this, saying it had only asked for the completion of the review process. "The OPAPP has been discussing the matter of the closure of the review mechanism and that’s where they are also onboard there with respect to the MNLF," Lacierda said Wednesday. He also reiterated his appeal to the MNLF, especially to Misuari, to give the Bangsamoro framework agreement a chance. "As a Mindanaoan who’ve seen decades and decades of conflict and here’s a Bangsamoro Framework Agreement which is very doable, which is very viable, which ensures development and, in massive growth, possibility of investments to Muslim Mindanao, certainly the people of Mindanao would know better where to look at, what to favor," he said. "That’s the same thing that we ask from Nur Misuari. Not to look at his own personal interest. Look to the national interest or look to the interest of the peoples of Mindanao - Muslim Mindanao," he added. Lacierda, meanwhile, said he has yet to confirm when the talks will resume. "Let me ask sila Sec. Ging (Deles). Basta after Ramadan," he said. — DVM, GMA News