MILF leaders pledge unity amid worries over internal friction
COTABATO CITY—Amid reported friction within the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), two suspended base commanders spoke up and pledged their loyalty to MILF chair Murad Ebrahim, clarifying that their trip to Metro Manila had nothing to do with decommissioning activities of the national government.
Ustadz Abdulwahid Tundok, commander of MILF’s 118th base command, and Abdulbayan Abbas, commander of the 108th base command, said during Saturday’s peace rally inside the Grand Mosque compound in Barangay Kalanganan here that they still followed the MILF chain of command and remained loyal to Ebrahim.
This developed as members of the government peace panel, who worked on the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) that led to the peace deal forged between the government and the MILF, issued an urgent warning, expressing “utmost concern” over escalating tensions in the Bangsamoro that risked spiraling out of control ahead of next month’s first parliamentary elections in the region.
“Government must help unite, not divide, its peace partner,” said a statement issued on Sunday by former government negotiating panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, with members Senen Bacani, Yasmin Busran-Lao, Zenonida Brosas and Anna Tarhata Basman.
Unite, not divide
The statement was referring to what appeared to be an emerging fracture within the MILF, the former rebel group now leading the transition government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The panel expressed concern that the emerging events in the BARMM might spiral out of control if not immediately addressed: “It is unfortunate that what we are seeing today is a fracture within the MILF,” part of the statement read. “Even more unfortunate is that the division that is causing confusion in the ranks is not simply an internal matter among them.”
“True there are cliques within any organization … but if there are external actors exacerbating these fractures and propping up one against the other, then the tensions are multiplied, the statement read.
The panel urged the government to help unite, not divide, its peace partner.
“We also call on the MILF leadership across the divide to halt from any action that would only further destabilize their own organization,” the peace panel members said.
They urged President Marcos to “decisively prevent” any further escalation of the tension that would endanger the smooth transition to a duly elected Bangsamoro Parliament and compromise the full implementation of the CAB, including the decommissioning of weapons and combatants of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), the military wing of the MILF.
On Saturday, the two suspended MILF commanders, along with interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, who heads BIAF, pledged their loyalty to Ebrahim during the rally here attended by around 100,000 MILF members and supporters.
Rally
“To Kagi Murad, we in the BIAF follow the chain of command and we remain loyal to you, we respect you because you are our Ameer (our leader),” Tundok said in Maguindanaoan language.
He said there was no truth to reports that they were “creating another faction outside BIAF,” explaining that their gathering on Saturday was to show that all MILF base commanders “remained united under the MILF central committee,” and that they did not disobey Ebrahim when they went to Manila because “there was no event related to decommissioning of MILF forces [there].”
The MILF central body earlier halted the decommissioning process of its combatants due to alleged failure of the government to deliver its promised socioeconomic packages to former Moro rebels.
One leader
Tundok said he would obey the suspension order if there was any because he still had to receive it yet.
“We in the MILF-BIAF have only one leader and that is Kagi Murad,” Abbas, commander of the MILF’s 108th base command, also said during the rally.
“We base commanders are all here to declare that our chairman is Kagi Murad and our BIAF chief of staff is Sammy Gambar,” he said in Maguindanaoan, referring to Ebrahim and Macacua.
He denied meeting Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. in Manila and expressed surprise that they were suspended.
“We only knew about it on social media,” Abbas said.
Macacua also made it clear during the rally that he was not creating a faction within the MILF and that as BIAF chief of staff, he remained obedient to the chain of command and recognized Ebrahim, the MILF chair, as his superior.
Macacua had replaced Ebrahim as chief minister in March following the President’s appointment and the latter’s resignation.
Not sanctioned
On Friday, the eve of the rally here, Ebrahim issued a notice that the BIAF activity in Kalanganan was not sanctioned by the MILF leadership, and that he would only approve of such a gathering if it were to be held in Camp Darapanan, the group’s administrative base in Sultan Kudarat town, Maguindanao del Norte.
But Macacua said Ebrahim sent him text messages asking if he was aware that some base commanders went to Manila. “If so then the suspension will be lifted,” Macacua said Ebrahim told him.
“Yes, I told Kagi Murad that I am aware they were there to express support for me and nothing about decommissioning issues,” Macacua told the BIAF members.
