Moro leftists hail Bangsamoro accord
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The euphoria over Thursday’s signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro has caught up even with a left-leaning Moro group, although some sectors continued to criticize the deal.
The Moro Revolutionary Liberation Organization, an ally of the Communist Party of the Philippines, said it viewed the signing of the CAB as a victory for the Moro people, who had struggled for years to achieve peace and development in the South.
“The MRLO is one with the Bangsamoro’s aim to achieve a peaceful and free society where justice reigns. We believe that that the CAB was the product of the long years of struggle by the Moro people against the oppressive Filipino society,” Jihad Al-Qurshi, MRLO spokesperson, said in a statement emailed to the media on Friday.
However, the shadowy Moro group warned the Moro Islamic Liberation Front against becoming too trusting of the government as this could put to waste the struggle in which thousands of lives were lost.
“For the Moro people to be truly victorious, the MILF and other revolutionary forces should be watchful of government maneuvers that would divide the people and boost the interest of capitalists,” Al-Qurshi said.
He said the government had “many tricks up its sleeve” and would do everything to renege on the CAB. Al-Qurshi cited as an example the 1996 peace agreement that the Moro National Liberation Front entered into with the government.
He said up to now, the 1996 agreement has not been fully implemented.
He likened the signing of the CAB to a “game of chance that the Moro people entered into.”
Al-Qurshi said the MILF and the Moro people should also be vigilant against government efforts to dilute the gains of the peace process through introducing “anti-people and elitist provisions” in the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
While the MRLO “celebrates” with reservations the signing of the CAB, the Nur Misuari-led faction of the MNLF and an heiress to the sultanate of Sulu continued to criticize it as a “sell-out” to Malaysia.
Jacel Kiram-Hasan, daughter of the late Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, said that after listening to President Aquino’s speech, she had come to the conclusion that “it’s not the Bangsamoro or the Filipino people who will benefit from this agreement; its the Malaysia.”
She lambasted the President for saying that the Filipino people would forever be indebted to Malaysia for facilitating the peace talks.
Hasan said with this line, Mr. Aquino was hinting that the government would no longer pursue the claim to Sabah.
“Let us always stand up for what is right and not be deceived by all these lies of this administration. This government will do everything to comply with Malaysia for money at the expense of its people. Malaysia being the facilitator of this ‘make-believe peace’ is doing this to cover up the issue on Sabah. The nerve of this land grabber! If they want peace in its truest form for the Muslim Mindanao eh di give Sabah back to the rightful owners,” she said in a post on her Facebook account.
Ely Pamatong, a Misuari aide, said that on the contrary, it was Malaysia that should be “deeply indebted to the Filipino people for grabbing Sabah and using the MILF as proxy.”
