MILF leader seeks OIC appointment, defends it as part of Moro struggle

OZAMIZ CITY—The ranking Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader sacked by the rebel group’s central committee said his bid to become the interim head of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was aimed at helping advance the Bangsamoro people’s struggle for a better life.

“We have been struggling very hard to bring change to the lives of our people. I wanted to grab every opportunity to make this happen,” Eid Kabalu, the former chief of the MILF civil-military affairs, said.

Kabalu was sacked last week for seeking the post of officer in charge (OIC) governor. He even solicited the help of non-ARMM politicians such as Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and former North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol so he can be appointed.

The appointment of officers in charge for the regional government was part of the move to reset the August elections in the region to May 2013 to prevent a leadership vacuum.

The MILF central committee said it removed Kabalu because he violated the rebel group’s stand on the ARMM, which it calls a sham autonomous region.

But Kabalu said the ARMM “could serve the real interest of the Moro people” if reforms were implemented.

He also said he resigned as MILF civil-military officer before seeking the interim regional chief post.

Kabalu said the differences between his personal views and that of the MILF regarding the ARMM led him to tender a courtesy resignation from his post in the rebel group.

In his letter to the MILF leadership, a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer, Kabalu admitted he lost the “moral authority and ascendancy” to continue holding on to the post.

But he clarified that he was not detaching himself from the struggle being waged by the MILF and that his decision to seek the post of OIC governor was a move studied well.

Kabalu said his name was “floated as a possible shoo-in” for the appointive ARMM top post as early as April, even before Congress approved a measure deferring the August 8 regional elections.

Kabalu was a member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the mid-1970s. He was caught in 1978 and jailed until the 1980s.

While in prison, he joined the faction of Salamat Hashim, then MNLF vice chair, which broke away from the leadership of Nur Misuari and formed a group that would later be known as the MILF.

After his release from prison, Kabalu took a job at the Lupong Tagapagpaganap ng Pook, the ARMM’s predecessor, in Cotabato City until 1986.

He also had a stint with radio stations in Cotabato City as a reporter.

His other job as a government employee was in 1998 when he was named acting secretary of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Maguindanao. Ryan Rosauro and Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao