MILF forms political party

Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front celebrate at Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao province, on March 27, 2014, as they await the signing of a peace accord between the government and their group in Manila. The MILF on Tuesday, April 8, announced it had formed its own political party to contest leadership in the future Bangsamoro autonomous region in Mindanao. AP PHOTO/FROILAN GALLARDO

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Fresh from signing an agreement with the government to end decades-long rebellion, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Tuesday announced it had formed its own political party to contest leadership in the future Bangsamoro autonomous region in Mindanao.

The political party will be called the United Bangsamoro Justice Party and will field candidates in the regional elections, according to Ghadzali Jaafar, political affairs chief of the 11,000-strong MILF.

With the political party, Iqbal says the rebels “will continue the struggle, but no longer with arms,” Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF negotiator, said Tuesday.

The formation of the MILF political party comes after the government and the MILF signed on March 27 a historic peace agreement carving a new, more powerful autonomous region called the Bangsamoro.

Jaafar told the Inquirer by phone on Monday that the party was formed weeks ago and has chapters now in major areas included in the proposed Bangsamoro entity.

“We have already named chairs in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao and other areas,” Jaafar said.

Iqbal on Monday said the proposed name had been submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission for consideration before submitting it to the Commission on Elections for inclusion in the official list of parties allowed to participate in the regional election.

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), signed in Malacañang with President Aquino and the MILF leaders, laid down the road map to the ratification of the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), and the eventual participation of the Bangsamoro people in the 2016 elections.

Iqbal first mentioned the formation of the political party in a news conference in Buluan last Sunday. But he did not elaborate.

The MILF, Iqbal said, would welcome any candidate as long as “he or she is for the good of the Bangsamoro.”

“It did not mean that if they are not MILF members, they will not be allowed to run anymore,” he said.

Iqbal said they hoped that the BBL, which will serve as basis for the Bangsamoro entity, will finally be completed by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission for submission to Congress.

Iqbal, chair of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), said the commission did not meet its self-imposed deadline of finishing the draft last March 31.

“We are trying our best to finish it,” Iqbal said.

Massive campaign drive

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles said that with the MILF’s massive campaign drive in support of the peace agreement, the government is expecting “a growing legion of peace advocates campaigning for the entrenchment of the Bangsamoro government.”

“I think we can be confident about the results of the plebiscite,” Deles said on Sunday in Buluan where she attended a thanksgiving hosted by Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu for the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.

“What we expect is there will be more and more people campaigning for this,” she told reporters.

Under the CAB, a ministerial form of Bangsamoro government will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) after the BBL had been passed and ratified.

But Deles said the government and the MILF should also work together to make the people understand what the BBL is all about.

“When they ask questions or clarifications, we should grant it to them. That is their right and it is our obligation to answer to the best of our ability. To those who have already decided because there is enough basis for a decision, the call is do not just prepare your own vote but to help sell this to others,” she said.

Deles also said the consultations being conducted in various areas proposed for inclusion in the Bangsamoro entity has generated interest among the people, which later translated to support.

“By and large, what we have seen in the consultations is a real interest, a real desire to have the best for the Bangsamoro,” Deles said.

Jaafar said reactions during the consultations also made the MILF confident that the BBL would be ratified by the Bangsamoro people.

“We believe that majority of the people will favor the BBL because they want to have a government they can call their own,” Jaafar said.

Core territory

The envisioned core territory covers the present geographical area of the ARMM (Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur); the municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in the province of Lanao del Norte and all other barangays in the municipalities of Kabacan, Carmen, Aleosan, Pigkawayan, Pikit and Midsayap that voted for inclusion in the ARMM during the 2001 plebiscite; the cities of Cotabato and Isabela; and all other contiguous areas where there is a resolution of the local government unit or a petition of at least ten percent of the qualified voters in the area asking for their inclusion at least two months prior to the conduct of the ratification of the BBL.—Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao with a report from Inquirer research and AP

Originally posted: 2:47 pm | Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

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