Duterte renews peace overture to Misuari: ‘We should talk soon’

DAVAO CITY — On the eve of the launch of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), President Rodrigo Duterte tried to reach out again to Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chair Nur Misuari, who continued to keep his silence and his distance despite the President’s repeated appeals for talks in the past.

“We had reached an agreement with the leadership of Murad [Ebrahim, Moro Islamic Liberation Front chair];   [Ghazali] Jaafar [MILF first vice chair]; and company,” the President said during the 9th anniversary of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) here. “Nur, to his lasting credit, someday, he will be recognized as a revolutionary.”

“Until now, Nur has kept his silence, and I have repeatedly stressed that we should soon talk,” the President said.

“I have a very limited period remaining, just three years. Maybe in my younger days, I haven’t contributed anything because maybe it was not yet my time, but now that I’ve grown old, and I see the horizon […] I could not wait for peace to travel at snail’s pace. We have to work hard, and maybe it has to be now,” he added.

He also hinted at the possibility of reconfiguring the autonomous Moro territory to accommodate the MNLF.

“I have to talk to Nur Misuari and let’s try to see if we could craft something more responsive, giving concessions to the Moro, which is the correct thing and also to reconfigure the territory to correct the historical injustice in this land,” he said. /ee