Duterte meets Misuari for third time

President Rodrigo Duterte met with Moro National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari in Malacañang on Tuesday night, which marked the third meeting of the two this year.

Photos released by the Palace showed Duterte and Misuari shaking hands while surrounded by some Cabinet members.

Former presidential aide and now Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Carlito Galvez, Jr., and Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol were present during the meeting.

Piñol is being eyed by Duterte to be his “point man” in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which was a product of the peace pact between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a breakaway group of MNLF.

Malacañang has yet to release details of the meeting.

Earlier this year, Duterte said he will seek Misuari's help to ensure lasting peace in Mindanao.

Misuari is a former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the entity superseded by the BARMM.

The President has repeatedly said he hopes to reach an agreement with Misuari because the latter threatened him of war should government fail to pursue a shift to federalism, which Misuari sees as an alternative to BARMM.