Lanao Norte gov blames MILF for blasts, MILF says accusation baseless

ILIGAN CITY — Lanao del Norte Governor Imelda Dimaporo blamed members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the series of bomb attacks on the eve of the second plebiscite to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) among the Lanao del Norte towns and 67 villages in North Cotabato proposed for inclusion in the Bangsamoro territory.

But MILF chair Al Hajj Murad Ebrahim said the bombings could only be done by those who wanted to sabotage the plebiscite and not the MILF.

Dimaporo told reporters the explosions carried out by members of the MILF in the towns of Kauswagan and Lala were meant to sow fear among the people as they knew the yes votes would not win in the two towns.

“It was meant to sow fear among the people, just like what they did in Cotabato City,” Dimaporo said. “(It was done) so that the people will not come out and vote,” she added.

The governor said the MILF under Commander Bravo along with the office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace process had a peace rally in the province but some MILF members stayed in the towns after the peace rally ended.

“Kauswagan is a Christian municipality,” Dimaporo said. “They were attacked by the MILF in 2000,” she said.

But Ebrahim said there was no basis for blaming Commander Bravo for the explosions.

“We cannot accept that accusation without any proof,” he said. “We have been campaigning very hard not to disturb the plebiscite because we know the people need to vote. If there are disturbances, that will discourage voters from going to voting places,” Murad said. “I think those who would do that are those against the plebiscite,” he added.

Two blasts rocked Lanao del Norte on Tuesday afternoon, the eve of the plebiscite but authorities said there were no casualties.

Dimaporo had opposed the inclusion of the six Lanao del Norte towns in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The plebiscite follows the Jan. 21 vote, which ratified the BOL creating the BARMM, the final step in the 2014 peace agreement between the government and the MILF.

The law aims to give the impoverished south an expanded autonomous area, offering self-determination to the nation’s four million Muslims by empowering them to elect their own parliament.

The law would also give the people in parts of southern Philippines that have Islamic majority control over many local government functions, including taxation and education, and would allow Muslim Filipinos to incorporate the Sharia law into their justice system./lzb