MNLF reminds gov’t not to forget 1996 peace pact

By: Nikko Dizon - 11 years ago

AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leadership on Saturday said it was not making an outright rejection of the GPH and MILF peace agreement, but stressed that it should not extinguish their 1996 Final Peace Agreement with government.

“The MNLF has spoken. We do not reject outright any agreement to be reached by the GPH and the MILF. Our reluctance to recognize stands from the point of view that the 1996 Final Peace Agreement is a final agreement for one people and one territory that has never reached culmination, it is still under review,” Muslimin Sema, chairman of the MNLF Committee of 15, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a text message when sought for reaction to the developments in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

Sema said that the silence of the MNLF throughout the time the government and the Moro Isamic Liberation Front (MILF) were hammering out the peace deal was “forced upon us spoilers.”

“We are firm that before another agreement is reached with another armed group, all prior agreements must first be fully implemented in letter and spirit. Our silence on any impending agreement is not our choice but is forced upon us spoilers,” he said.

“Nonetheless, if it has any significance at all, the GPH or even the MILF cannot lure us to accept an agreement that completely annihilates our historic achievement in 1976 and in 1996. They can sign any agreement without charging us for the cost. If the government insists on MNLF participation, there should be a mechanism that will bind all parties to it,” Sema said.

Sema founded the MNLF along with Nur Misuari but the secessionist group eventually broke apart. Sema led the Committee of 15, a group of MNLF leaders.

They have remained supportive of the Aquino administration, with Sema even being part of the Liberal Party, the political party of President Benigno Aquino III.

He also did not support the Zamboanga siege, but put context to Misuari’s grumblings. Sema wants the government to continue the tripartite review of the Organic Law that created the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.