Manila: Allies called on the government to grant amnesty to former chairman of a separatist Filipino-Muslim rebel group that forged two pro-autonomy peace settlements with the Philippine government in 1976 and 1996, but renewed armed struggle in one southern province in 2013, sources said
“The request for amnesty for Nur Misuari, founder of the 46-year old Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was hinted (not publicly made) during a confidential conference among representatives of the Philippine government, the MNLF, and the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the New World Hotel (in Makati) last September 9,” a source of the MNLF who requested for anonymity told Gulf News on Saturday.
Misuari went into hiding after he was identified as the leader of the 19-day Zamboanga siege, which killed 183 Filipino-Muslim rebels, 25 government soldiers, and 12 civilians; injured 184 soldiers and 70 civilians from September 9 to 28. The capture of 292 MNLF members ended the MNLF-initiated siege.
Misuari was not at the scene of siege. It began when members of the Roque MNLF Element (RME) led by Ustadz Habier Malik, Khaid Ajibon and four other pro-Misuari leaders held hostages, and raised the flag of the Bangsamoro Republik at Zamboanga City Hall.
Habier’s Sulu State Revolutionary Command declared independence in Talipao, Sulu on August 12, 2014.
President Benigno Aquino personally led the military and the police during the standoff which displaced 100,000 residents, closed Zamboanga International Airport, and paralysed Zamboanga City.
Misuari was slapped with rebellion case and violation of international humanitarian law. He went into hiding in Sulu, his base. Since then, he never denied allegations that he was behind the siege; and he never sent surrender feelers. .
But Misuari needs amnesty now so he could attend the tripartite meeting which has been discussing the Philippine government’s implementation of the pro settlement peace accord it signed with the MNLF in 1996, said the source.
Misuari lef the MNLF during peace talks with the Philippine government from 1992 to 1996, during the time of former president Fidel Ramos. It was brokered by OIC member counties such as Indonesia and Libya,
After the peace accord, Congress amended a law and allowed a second referendum for Filipino-Muslim autonomy in the south which occurred in 2001, five years after the signing of the Philippine government-MNLF peace agreement. The referendum expanded the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which is now composed of five provinces and one city.
Misuari served as ARMM governor in 1996. But in 2001, former president Gloria Arroyo did not support his gubernatorial aspiration, prompting him to renew armed struggle. He attacked five Army detachment, an incident that killed 113 people, including 100 Filipino-Muslim rebels.
He hid in Malaysia, but was repatriated to Manila, where he was charged with rebellion and served tine at Fort Sto. Domingo in Laguba, southern Luzon in 2002. In 2008, the Makati Regional Trial Court allowed Misuari to post bail. Later, rebellion charges against him were dropped for lack of evidence.
Misuari believes there are no strong evidences to show that he was behind the Zamboanga siege in 2013, other sources said.
It is not known if President Aquino will respond positively to his allies’ request for his amnesty,
Some 150,000 people died in MNLF’s separatist war in the south in the early 70s. This prompted former Presiednt Ferdinand Marcos to seek the help of Moamar Khadaffy to forge a Philippine government-MNLF peace accord in Libya in 1976,
