MORO National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari left for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to seek guidance from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the fate of the organization following the stalled implementation of the Jakarta Final Peace Agreement that was abandoned by the Aquino administration.
MNLF spokesman Absalom Cerveza said Misuari will be attending the four-day OIC Ministerial, Officers and Heads of State meeting to possibly solicit advice for the Bangsamoro people following the two conflicting peace agreements that the Philippine government had signed.
Eric Apolonio
“We still don’t know if the OIC is going to take cognizance of the peace agreement,” Cerveza said.
“As far as the OIC is concerned they will only honor the Jakarta peace accord.”
Misuari on Wednesday said he supported the move of the Duterte administration pushing for a federal form of government.
“President Duterte wanted us to have federalism, I said it is okay with me because that is midway between colonialism and independence,” Misuari told reporters before leaving for Jeddah.
The 1996 final peace agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine government, despite previous interventions by the OIC that brokered the deal, failed to take its course after the Aquino administration forged a separate agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The GRP-MNLF talks eventually diminished after the government abrogated the agreement and Misuari declared independence in Mindanao in 2013.
Cerveza said he was still clueless about Misuari’s plan as regards his meeting with the Islamic leaders in Saudi Arabia and the agenda he would be proposing involving the MNLF status before the OIC.
In 2015, the OIC proposed the merging of vital provisions of the Jakarta peace accord to Malaysian-sponsored Bangsamoro Basic Law, but Misuari rejected it saying the Jakarta issue was more binding since it is an international treaty.
