Zambo mayor: Reject bets close to Nur

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Mayor Ma. Isabelle Salazar on Friday said politicians who are sympathetic to or supportive of Moro leader Nur Misuari should not be elected.

Salazar, a Liberal Party stalwart, was giving her views on Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s admission of friendship with the fugitive Moro leader and his federalism campaign.

Salazar said the people of Zamboanga should not forget how Misuari’s followers went into rampage in September 2013 after the Moro leader declared independence from Manila.

Nearly 200 people, 12 of them civilians, were killed in the nearly three-week standoff which has since been known as the siege of Zamboanga.
At least 120,000 residents were displaced.

The postsiege scenario continues to be bleak as many displaced residents are still homeless. Hundreds of people had died of diseases in evacuation centers.

Eye-opener

“I think it was really an eye-opener for Zamboangueno voters,” said Salazar.

She said candidates who support Misuari should be rejected. “We hold them accountable for the siege of Zamboanga City,” said the mayor.
“We are very sensitive on matters that affect the safety of the people of Zamboanga City,” she said.

“We are still filing cases with regard to our accusation against Misuari,” Salazar added.

When Duterte visited the city on Jan. 24 this year, he admitted that Misuari was a personal friend and an ally in his pursuit of federalism.

“We have to talk to everybody, we have to talk to all the sectors, to the Moro communities, we have to talk to the Tausugs, we have to talk to the Samas, we have to talk to the Yakans, the people and their leaders,” Duterte said.

‘Federalism best solution’

He said a federal setup was the best solution to Mindanao’s problems.

Reacting to Salazar’s statement that politicians supportive of Misuari should be rejected, Duterte’s spokesperson, Peter Lavina, said the “bad governance of the administration is partly to blame for [Zamboanga] city’s troubles and certainly nothing to do with Duterte’s candidacy.”

Lavina also said Duterte knew that federalism was a lasting and all encompassing solution than the administration’s proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

“We need to address the Bangsamoro question with what fits their aspirations,” he said.

On the Zamboanga City siege, Lavina said members of the Moro National Liberation Front loyal to Misuari and the Moro leader himself are already facing criminal charges. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao