Duterte meets MILF chair Murad in Davao City

President Rodrigo Duterte met with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim in Davao City on Monday night.

MILF implementing panel chairperson Mohagher Iqbal confirmed the meeting in a text message on Tuesday.

The communications team of the GPH-MILF also released a joint statement on Tuesday afternoon to confirm the meeting.

The panels said that Duterte met with MILF leaders to discuss the crisis in Marawi City after it was attacked by the so-called ISIS-inspired Maute group while the military tried to serve an arrest warrant on Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon.

During the meeting, Murad welcomed Duterte’s idea to allow MILF to extend aid to civilians trapped in Marawi City because of the firefighting.

“MILF Chairman Alhaj Murad Ebrahim welcomed the idea of PRRD for the MILF forces to help in extending necessary humanitarian assistance to civilians which are still trapped in areas of Marawi where sporadic fighting still [happens],” it read. 

GPH and MILF said that peace mechanisms such as the Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCHs) of both panels would be utilized for planning and implementing ways to extend assistance safely as soon as possible.

Not against MI, MN, NPA

The joint statement also pointed out that Duterte assured the MILF leaders that declaration of martial law was not against them, the Moro National Liberation Front, and the New People’s Army.

He told Murad, Iqbal, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Force chief of staff Sammy Al-Mansour, Supreme Shari’ah Court head Ustadz Khalifa Nando, and Ad Hoc Joint Action Group chair Atty. Abdul Dataya that Proclamation No. 216 was meant to quell the rebellion.

“He also asserted legitimacy for the peace process and its continuity as well as the mechanisms established through the 17 years of negotiation with the MILF,” the statement read.

Duterte also urged the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), chaired by MILF First Vice-Chairman Ghazali Jaafar, to fast track the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Año, who is also the Martial Law Administrator and GPH implementing panel chair Irene Santiago, military commanders, and Cabinet officials were also present during the two-hour meeting. —NB, GMA News