Standoff in Zamboanga
on eve of MILF peace talks

MNLF rebel: Disgruntled and disenchanted (File photo)

ARMED MEN believed to be members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) engaged government forces in clashes in the regional hub of Zamboanga City on Monday on the eve of the resumption of peace talks between the government and the breakaway Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)

The timing of the attack raises concerns over its possible impact on the peace talks with the MILF, a rival rebel group that, like the MNLF previously, is also seeking an autonomous state of its own.

MNLF negotiator Absalom Cerveza claimed that the attack was ordered by MNLF founder Nur Misuari after Misuari again declared war on the Philippine government for its alleged failure to implement the peace agreement it signed with his group in 1996.

The attack came on the eve of the resumption of peace negotations between the MILF and the government in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. The MILF broke away from the MNLF in 1979 over differences in policy and Misuari’s leadership style.

Government and MILF spokesmen downplayed the MNLF attack’s effect on the peace talks, saying the peace deal being pursued with the MILF would include all BangsaMoro peoples, including those from the MNLF.

Misuari had voiced his opposition to the MILF peace talks, saying his group was being shut out of the talks. At the same time Misuari had angrily railed against the government for allegedly abandoning the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF in favor of a new peace deal with his rival rebel group.

In the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the MNLF, the government allowed Misuari to govern the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, with guarantees of government support and funding for development projects. In addition, the MNLF was also assured of slots for MNLF fighters in the ranks of the military and the Philippine National Police.

In his State of the Nation Address in July, however, President Benigno S. Aquino III himself called the ARMM a “failed experiment,” and asked Congress to cooperate in the drafting of a law that would create its replacement under the framework of the peace talks with the MILF.

Cerveza told the PCIJ that he had spoken to Misuari just hours after the attack was launched by the armed men on several coastal villages of Zamboanga City. Cerveza said the attack was in consonance with Misuari’s earlier reported declaration of a BangsaMoro Republik, or his attempt to revive his bid for an independent Muslim state in the Southern Philippine.

“This morning, Nur Misuari informed me that he has already declared war,” Cerveza claimed. “Sabi niya sa akin, I have declared war against the Philippine government to assert our independence.”

“We have already taken over parts of the city,” Cerveza added. “We are just 100 meters away from City Hall.”

Cerveza’s statements however stand in stark contrast with an interview with Atty. Emmanuel Fontanilla, said to be the spokesman of the MNLF-Misuari faction, with the ABS-CBN News Channel. Fontanilla claimed that the rebels had merely wanted to hold a “peaceful rally” in front of the Zamboanga City Hall so that they could raise the flag of the BangsaMoro Republik.

Fontanilla told ANC that the fighting started when government forces started harassing the MNLF troops that were trying to reach City Hall for what he called their peaceful rally.

Cerveza said the MNLF was angered by the government’s “negation of its commitment to peace by closing the negotiations” with the MNLF. Cerveza was apparently referring to reports that the tripartite committee that was reviewing the implementation of the 1996 MNLF peace deal had already ended its review.

“The chairman of the committee, which is Indonesia, said that the government has served notice of closure, and there is nothing we can do about it,” Cerveza said.

However, Undersecretary Jose Lorena of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said that the closure of the review did not mean the abrogation of the 1996 peace accord. Rather, Lorena said this only meant that they were moving towards the implementation of the 46 consensus points that they had already agreed upon.

“Ang mahalagang maiparating sa MNLF ay huwag silang maniwala sa misinformation,” Lorena told the PCIJ. “Hindi lang nagkaintindihan. Angpagtatapos ng review is not the end of the engagement with the MNLF.”

In fact, one of the consensus points with the MNLF that is now up for implementation, Lorena said, is the creation of a BangsaMoro Development Assistance Fund for MNLF communities. “Lahat ng pagkukulang ay paguusapan,” he said.

MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar added that the incident in Zamboanga should have no bearing in the peace talks, as the MNLF is not being shut out of any new peace agreement with the MILF.

MILF rebels in Maguindanao (Library picture)

Jaafar pointed out that the basic law now being drafted by both government and MILF transition committee members would be “inclusive,” and would allow other rebel groups such as the MNLF to participate in a new political process that would redefine the region.

“Ang agreement is not going to be exclusive to the MILF,” Jaafar said in a phone interview. “It would include all BangsaMoro leaders. Yung proposed BangsaMoro law has provisions for a political exercise that will elect BangsaMoro leaders. So anyone qualified can run, including Misuari. If he is elected by the people, if he belongs to the dominant party, pwede siyang maging chief minister.”

“So why is it na hindi siya (Misuari) makahintay ngayon?” Jaafar said. “Si Nur minsan, hindi namin maintindihan ang takbo ng isip.”

“Itinaon pa nila to demonstrate ang pagkamuhi nila sa negotiations,” Jaafar said of the Zamboanga attacks.

Cerveza for his part called the MILF peace talks “another blunder on the part of the government.”

“While there is already an existing peace agreement, there is going to be an abandonment of the peaceful process of achieving independence,” he said. “If we win in this war, we will assert the independence of Mindanao.”

For his part, Lorena said it was important for the MILF and the MNLF to talk with each other, and assure one another that any future agreement will be for the benefit of the BangsaMoro people, and not just one particular rebel faction.

Still, the incident in Zamboanga may further complicate issues in a land that is still struggling to overcome age-old rivalries and biases. It is not the first time that Misuari’s forces had engaged government over disenchantment over the implementation of the 1996 peace agreement. Misuari had also led MNLF forces in attack on Zamboanga in November 2001, after the MNLF lost control over the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Misuari was then jailed for rebellion.

In the past, critics of the peace talks with the MILF, and even the MNLF, had questioned the value of talking to one specific rebel group when there is no guarantee that the other rebel groups would respect the outcome of the talks.