Bongbong mulls seeking suspension of Misuari arrest warrant

MANILA, Philippines – Should the warrant of arrest for rebel leader Nur Misuari be suspended to allow him to participate in the hearings on the proposed Bangsamoro law? 

One year after members of the Misuari-led faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) took hostages in Zamboanga to express their opposition to the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr told reporters he was considering asking authorities to suspend Misuari’s arrest warrant so he can join the discussions. 

“Definitely, we should call [them]….Although he is still wanted in the sense that he has a warrant against him, we are thinking about allowing a suspension of that to allow Chairman Nur Misuari to come and speak and give us his idea because if you remember, the Zamboanga uprising was precisely a product of the MN[LF] feeling that they were left out of the process,” Marcos said Wednesday, September 10.  

“So, let us allow him in the process because clearly it will not succeed unless both the MILF and the MNLF are part of the process,” he added. 

The MNLF signed a peace accord with the government in 1996 but the group believes the government has yet to fully implement it. (READ: The MILF, MNLF and 2 peace agreements)

Marcos will head the committee that will discuss the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. The Moro insurgency was triggered by the Jabidah Massacre, under the rule of the senator’s late father, Ferdinand Marcos.

Malacañang said authorities are still tracking down Misuari after he surfaced in August. Misuari and his followers are wanted for rebellion and human rights abuses over the Zamboanga siege.

“Authorities are still looking for Misuari so the warrant of arrest can be served to him,” Palace Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said Tuesday, September 9.

On September 9, 2013, MNLF rebels seized Zamboanga, resulting in a month-long battle that killed 38 civilians and security personnel and at least 153 rebels from the MNLF. At least 158 displaced residents died in evacuation centers afterwards.

The rebels said this was a bid to dramatize their opposition to the peace talks with the MILF, who had yet to sign a final peace accord with the government at that time.

Due to conflict between leaders and Misuari, the MILF broke away from the MNLF.

Even the MNLF itself, at present, is wounded by divisions. Aside from the Misuari faction, another group is led by Habib Mujahab “Boghdadi” Hashim, chairman Islamic Command Council. Both are opposed to the government-MILF peace talks.

Another faction, led by former Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, is supportive of the current Bangsamoro peace process. 

A new MNLF group led by Abul Khayr Alonto emerged just before the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed. A total of 35 out of the 39 surviving members of the original MNLF central committee came together to elect Alonto as the supposed new head of the MNLF. 

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an influential Muslim body which counts 56 Islamic states as members, has been working to unite the MILF and the MNLF. 

In a meeting with the OIC in June, the MILF and the MNLF agreed to reactivate the Bangsamoro Coordination Forum, an avenue where the two groups would work to find “common ground” in the issues. 

Misuari was represented by lawyer Randolph Parcasio, doctor Mashur Jundam and Jimmy Labawan in the meeting. 

The OIC brokered the 1996 peace pact between the government and the MNLF and continues to be the third party to the tripartite review of the implementation of the accord. 

Among the unimplemented provisions in the 1996 agreement that Misuari wants to renegotiate include those on wealth-sharing, provisional government, and the expansion of the ARMM territory through a plebiscite. 

These issues are also included in the proposed Bangsamoro law, which was submitted by President Benigno Aquino III to Congress on Wednesday, September 10. The MNLF had begged off from participating in the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, which drafted the basic law.

In his speech at the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in March, MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim gave assurances that the MNLF will be part of the Bangsamoro, saying that the MILF recognizes the 1996 peace pact as a milestone. – Rappler.com