MILF, MNLF unite to push for BBL passage

Ahud (aka Murad) Ebrahim. FILE PHOTO/MALACANANG PHOTO BUREAU

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) declared unity on Tuesday, as they pushed for the passage of the bill on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

“For the sake of a just and dignified peace and of the general welfare of the people, we the MILF and MNLF firmly and solemnly declare a diluted Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which is inimical to the full and faithful implementation of both the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement, is unacceptable to us and the Bangsamoro people,” MILF chair Murad Ebrahim and Muslimin Sema, the chair of the so-called Council of 15 of the MNLF, said in a joint statement issued following a meeting at Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

“This unification simply means that both sides have the same goal – that is for the betterment of Bangsamoro people and other inhabitants of Mindanao,” Sema later told reporters.

Murad said Tuesday’s meeting solidified the cooperation between the two sides to achieve the full implementation of the 2014 CAB and 1996 FPA.

“We are coming out with action plans for the achievement of this declaration,” Murad added.

Muslimin Sema AFP FILE PHOTO

Murad said the unification meeting was the product of the Bangsamoro Coordination Forum in Kuwait, which was called for by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in May this year.

The statement, signed by both Murad and Sema, said the gesture of some lawmakers towards the BBL was an indication “of a systematic extermination of the signed peace agreements (CAB and FPA) to the detriment of the Bangsamoro people and the entire people of the country.”

They both said that “under this present situation of the peace process, we realized and feel duty-bound to strengthen and consolidate our unity and our people under the blessings of universal brotherhood for the common good and interest of all.”

Both leaders said the passage of an undiluted BBL shall fully implement both the 2014 CAB and the 1996 Government of the Philippines-MNLF Final Peace Agreement, in letter and spirit, and in accordance with the 1976 Tripoli Agreement.

The MNLF faction headed by Sema was considered the largest and most politically active group from the three factions that emerged from the MNLF. The other factions were being headed by Nur Misuari and Habib Hashim Mudjahab. SFM