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3 years after signing of peace accord, MILF tells GPH: Give us our government


It was supposed to be a celebration to commemorate the third anniversary of the historic signing of a peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but the mood in Davao City where it was held on Wednesday was somber if not testy.

Three years after the signing the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) on March 27, 2014, Congress has yet to pass a law that would establish a new autonomous Bangsamoro political entity, and MILF's patience is wearing thin.

"Ano pa ba ang gustong malaman ng gobyerno sa amin? Nasabi na na namin, nasabi na ni Brother [Mohagher] Iqbal (MILF’s chief negotiator). Iniutos na ng Central Committee ‘dun sa mga meetings sa peace panel. Nasabi na lahat. Wala na kaming alam na pwedeng sabihin sa gobyerno except give us our government," MILF’s Vice-Chairman for Political Affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said.

The Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) would have set up a regional parliamentary government for the Bangsamoro region, but Congress under the Aquino administration failed to pass it due to critical public opinion following  the killing of 44 elite policemen by Moro rebels during the infamous Mamasapano clash in 2015.

Now the MILF is counting on the popularity of President Rodrigo Duterte, both in Congress and with the public, to give the BBL a second chance.

Last November, the Duterte administration convened a new Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) that will draft the new BBL. Jaafar chairs the BTC.

It has also increased the number of its members from 15 to 21 to accommodate three members from the Sema faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

MNLF’s founding chairman Nur Misuari has complained that his group has been excluded in the peace process. Several lawmakers had aksi hit the BBL for not being inclusive.

But despite this accommodation, the MNLF faction of Misuari refused to join the BTC. Instead, he offered a five-man panel to talk to the government.

Deputy presidential adviser on the peace process Nabil Tan, who was tasked to talk to the Misuari faction, said any proposal that the MNLF might have may have to be sorted out in Congress when it tackles the bill.

The BTC has a self-imposed deadline of May 18 to come up with the BBL in time for a new Congress in July.

Jaafar reminded the government that his group remains to be an armed group. Under the CAB, the full decommissioning of its forces would happen only after the MILF and the government had signed an exit agreement.

Although Jaafar said war was not an option, he added that he could not speak for other armed groups in Mindanao.

"The MILF remains to be an Islamic revolutionary government of the Bangsamoro people. The MILF does not intend to give away its guns until the Bangsamoro issue is resolved," he said.

He defended other armed Moro groups like the Maute terrorist group, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which he said may have grown impatient with the peace track that the MILF has pursued.

"That is why, lumaban ang Maute. Frustrated sila with the way the government is handling the negotiations. Hindi wanted ang mga ito. They're fighting for a cause. Pero hindi kami pabor sa pamamaraan nila," Jaafar said. —KBK, GMA News

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