MILF: Let Moros run their affairs, decide their future

MANILA, Philippines—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said a “substate” in Mindanao would give Muslim Filipinos the chance to exercise self-determination.

In an editorial posted Tuesday in its website (www.luwaran.com), the MILF said they would take responsibility for the success or failure of a Moro substate.

“The MILF’s formula to solve the Moro Question in Mindanao is very simple; it is far from complex. Let the Moros run their affairs. Let them decide their own destiny. Let them succeed or self-destruct. Gone were the days when the government in Manila designed everything for them,” the MILF said.

“The most important element here is self-determination. Let them exercise this right to self-determination, which is enshrined and guaranteed by the Charter of the United Nations. This is a right that cannot be foreclosed by any agreement or the subject of negotiation,” it added.

The Philippine government through its negotiation panel has yet to formally respond to the MILF’s proposal.

But in a historic move, President Aquino sat down with MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim last week in Japan for a two-hour one-on-one meeting where they agreed afterwards to fast-track the negotiations.

The Muslim rebel group, which has dropped its original secessionist bid for an independent Moro nation, said their formula would involve the creation of a substate that would operate like a state in a federal system of government.

“The MILF’s formula calls for the creation of a substate for the Moros. This entity is not an independent state. The powers over national defense, foreign relations, coinage and currency and postal services are still the sole jurisdiction of the central government. The substate has jurisdiction only over other matters, except those jointly exercised by the substate and the central government,” the MILF said.

“There is nothing to fear in this proposal because the substate, as the name connotes, is still part of the Philippines. It has no army, except police and internal security forces, tasked to do policing within the substate,” it added.

The MILF said the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which was created when the Philippine government signed a peace pact with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996, has been “a far cry” from the substate they have been seeking.

“The ARMM, contrary to its name, is not autonomous. A province or city is more powerful than the ARMM. The recent postponement of the ARMM elections speaks loudly why this entity is not autonomous. It is controlled, nay dictated, by Manila,” it said.

The MILF dared critics, singling out Senator Francis Escudero, to prove that the Moro substate would not work.  Escudero expressed doubt that Muslim Filipinos could be left to themselves to effectively run a government.

“We say to them: Let them show it by giving them what they want. If they go to hell by their own making, so be it. They deserve no sympathy. After all, they have always been described as a “problem” not only to the Americans during colonial days but all succeeding Filipino administrations,” the MILF said.