Peace at last in Lanao del Norte conflict zone

WELCOME Moro Islamic Liberation Front leader Abdullah Macapaar (right) ushers into Camp Bilal Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo (second, right), and Gov. Imelda Dimaporo (second, left) for a meeting on Feb. 6 in Munai town brokered by peace advocate Musa Mohamad Sanguila (left) that ended their feud. —PHOTO COURTESY OF PAKIGDAIT INC.

ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte Philippines — Former camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are now under the development radar of Lanao del Norte’s provincial government after the Dimaporo political clan mended fences with once rebel leader Commander Bravo, 20 years after their conflict started.

Gov. Imelda Dimaporo has ordered plans for the MILF communities to be integrated into the province’s development priorities, said Abelardo Moya, director of nongovernment peace-building group Pakigdait.

The MILF’s northwestern Mindanao front has three base commands in Lanao del Norte. A fourth base, Camp Bilal at Barangay Tamparan in Munai town, is under Commander Bravo, the guerrilla name of Abdullah Macapaar, who is overseeing the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.

The rebel army is now awaiting decommissioning as part of the peace agreement between the government and the MILF. Macapaar is now a member of the interim Bangsamoro parliament.

Although the deal’s normalization program covers all the MILF bases, the national government has yet to put resources on Macapaar’s camp for its transformation into “peaceful and productive communities.”

Moya said preparations were under way to review the development blueprints of all MILF camps and harmonize these with the government’s own road map, beginning with the closest villages as ordered by Dimaporo, so that projects could soon be started there.

“This is a very welcome turn of events,” said Moya, whose group helped lay the groundwork for the reconciliation of Dimaporo and her husband, Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo, and Macapaar.

“Indeed, reconciliation is a precondition for peace and development,” he added.

Camp visit

On Feb. 6, the Dimaporo couple visited Camp Bilal and were warmly welcomed by Macapaar. The meeting was dubbed “Kasu’sulae,” a Maranao rite for honoring people one holds dear and special.

Musa Mohamad Sanguila, a peace advocate of United Religions Initiative, brokered the meeting and lauded the parties for “transcending their enmity” and deciding to work together.

“We are in the most sensitive part of the [peace] process. We need open minds and hearts. United, we can accomplish great things,” Sanguila said.

Abdullah Dimaporo and Macapaar are cousins with roots in Lanao del Sur, but they chose different paths.

In 2000, when Imelda was then governor of Lanao del Norte, Macapaar led MILF guerrillas in taking over Kauswagan town for several hours and launched more attacks in the province in 2003 and 2008.

When the Bangsamoro autonomous region was being formed, Macapaar campaigned for the inclusion of six towns of Lanao del Norte in the new Bangsamoro territory during the 2019 plebiscite. He faced strong opposition from the Dimaporos.

Macapaar lost in his campaign and the towns voted to stay with Lanao del Norte.

“I am asking for forgiveness if I disappointed you,” Governor Dimaporo said to Macapaar in Filipino during the meeting.

Among those present were Bangsamoro Deputy Chief Minister Ali Solaiman, Maj. Gen. Generoso Ponio of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, several members of the Bangsamoro parliament, and other police and military officials.