Fast-track federalism, Duterte urges Congress

By: Leila B. Salaverria

President Duterte asked Congress to fast-track moves to put in place a federal system of government in the country, stressing that this was the key to bringing peace in conflict-ridden Mindanao.

Mr. Duterte said he wants the federal system put in place during his term, given the trust placed on him by people from Mindanao.

He also reiterated his promise that he would step down even before his term ends to pave the way for this new system, but it must also have a strong President.

He said he had told Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez to put in place the federal system in two to three years.  Overhauling the system of government would require charter change.

“I told them, Bebot [Alvarez’ nickname], hurry it up. I told them if you finish it in two or three years, I will step down as President. You can have my word,” Mr. Duterte said in a speech at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao local governance summit in Davao City.

The ball has to start rolling now, he added, because “the Moro people will not wait for another term of a President.”

“I am not an indispensable factor in this island. But what I’m saying … maybe not really golden but the most appropriate opportunity at this time of our generation, in our lives now, will be now,” he said.

He later said should he die before this is completed, it would be difficult to convince the people to back the idea.

He also assured the Moro people of Mindanao that his only desire was to give them their own territory.

He is not being controlled by any outside influence, he said.

“What you should understand from me, and believe me, what I want to happen is to give what is due to you, and that is semblance of your territory, your governance, and the happiness of the Moro people,” he said.

Mr. Duterte also said Mindanao has been suffering for decades because there seems to be no cohesive action on the part of the Moro people and the central government.

There have been several attempts to address the conflict in Mindanao, but these only proved to be divisive even among Moro groups, he added.

“I think the only acceptable arrangement as of today, this moment of our generation and of the lives of the Moro people is federalism. Other than that, there will be conflict,” he said.

The President also defended armed uprisings by Moro groups.

According to him, terrorism was not started by the people of Mindanao, but by the “colonialists” who “started the killing and the plunder of the land in Mindanao.”

“It’s just a reaction of a person who has been deprived of the most precious thing of Allah’s possessions and that is the land. What they refer to as Muslim rebellion or a Moro rampage is actually Moro nationalism, to put it correctly in the proper perspective,” he said.

He said the anger in the minds of the Moro was grounded in his nationalism, because his land was taken away from him.

“Just as you would call everybody here a Filipino nationalist who sticks to the interest of his own country,” he added.


Sumber - Inquirer News

Rebel leaders in Philippines concerned over peace plan

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Sulu’s ‘crown prince’ to drop claims over Sabah

KOTA KINABALU,
Sept 29, 2015


A Sulu ”crown prince” Datu Mohd Kudhar SJ Kiram II is defying the recently departed Sultan Esmail Kiram II’s instructions, claiming that he had issued a directive to drop the Sultanate’s claims on Sabah.

Disclosing that he would be going back to the Philippines soon to inform the government of this decision, Datu Mohd Kudhar said they would instead focus on fighting for the independence of Sulu from the Philippines.

“I promise that there’ll will be no more intrusions in the future. We will no longer be issuing claims over Sabah as we already have a lot in our hands in fighting for the independence of Sulu from the Philippines.

“To add on ‘claiming Sabah’ on to our mission will be an unnecessary additional problem when we should instead be working on our independence,” the 69-year-old was reported as saying by The Borneo Post.

He also claims to be cousins with the recently departed Sultan Esmail Kiram II, who led an army of 200 followers to invade Sabah’s coastal village of Lahad Datu in February 2013.

A sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani told the Philippine media that Sultan Esmail Kiram II, who died at age 76 of kidney failure on Sept 19 at a hospital in southern Zamboanga city, left an order for his followers to pursue a claim to Sabah state in neighbouring Malaysia.

“One of his (Esmail) instructions was the pursuit of the Sabah claim through peaceful means for the welfare of the Filipino people,” Idjirani told the Associated Press.

His cousin, Kudhar, however, described the intrusion as a “heinous crime” and apologised to Sabahans for the confusion and chaos caused by the many individuals who claimed to be the Sultan of Sulu, defiling his grandfather’s name, one of which had led to a security crisis in the state.

The prince said that he is the son of Sultan Julaspi Kiram II, one of Jamalul Kiram’s children, adding that his relatives — the late Jamalul Kiram III and Esmail Kiram II — had nothing to do with the Kiram, because as he puts it: “No Kiram will ever do what they did.”

Vowing also to not interfere with the ongoing persecution of militants in the country, as “they have committed a serious crime against the King,” and should be dealt with by the laws of the country, he stressed that many innocent lives were lost as a result of their actions.

Esmail’s son, Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, in his 40s, was among those arrested and detained at the state prison in Kepayan and has been on trial since January last year for waging war against the King and being member of a terrorist group.

“We want to have harmonious and peaceful relations with our neighbouring country and states. That is why we vow that there will be no more intrusions,” Kudhar explained, adding that upon gaining their independence, he would be calling back the Suluks in Malaysia, of which he said numbered over a million in Sabah and about 300,000 in the Peninsular Malaysia, to go back to their country.

Now based in Manila, Kudhar also claimed that his father was the one who was in contact with the late Tun Mustapha Harun, Sabah’s first Head of State, and was even one of those who gave the blessings for the formation of Malaysia.

“My father didn’t want North Borneo to fall into the hands of the Christians, hence, rejecting the Philippine government. He agreed to Sabah jointly forming Malaysia because Malaysia is an Islamic country and was invited by the late Tungku Abdul Rahman to Jesselton in 1963.”

Claiming to be the chief of Muslims in all of Philippines, he also ordered his countrymen, the Suluks, residing in Malaysia to continue supporting the Barisan Nasional, particularly the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Sabah.


Sumber - The Rakyat Post

Esmail Kiram II, Sultan of Sulu - obituary

Sultan of Sulu whose claim to Malaysian-held Sabah on Borneo led to an ill-fated attempted invasion

Esmail Kiram II, who has died aged 75, was the self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu, a tiny archipelago province of the Philippines that, in 2013, staged an invasion of the Malaysian enclave of Sabah on Borneo, sparking a security crisis.

The Kiram sultanate of Sulu, which emerged in the 1400s, built a reputation for its feared Tausug warriors and for several centuries the sultans ruled over vast tracts of land and ocean – including parts of Borneo – from opulent palaces.

The sultanate’s claim to Sabah (the island of Borneo is divided between Indonesia in the south, and Brunei and the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah to the north), dates back to 1658 when it was said to have been granted sovereignty by the Sultan of Brunei in return for help repelling foreign invaders. Over the next two centuries, however, agreements were signed with British trading companies which ended, in 1878, with resource-rich Sabah being leased to Baron Von Overbeck for the British North Borneo Company. Eventually the British Crown claimed absolute sovereignty.

At around the same time the sultanate came under the control of Spain in Manila. In 1885 Britain, Germany and Spain signed an agreement to cement Spanish influence over the islands of the Philippines under which Spain relinquished all claim to territories in Borneo which had belonged to the sultanate in the past to the British.

When Malaysia was granted independence in 1963, Sabah voted to became part of its territory. But in a further twist the Philippine government staked its own claim to Sabah because the then sultan of Sulu, Esmail Kiram I, had signed an agreement giving Manila the right to claim the territory. At one point the disputed claim led the Philippines and Malaysia to sever diplomatic ties.

Shunted aside by history, the sultans are still regarded as royalty by about 75,000 followers in Sulu – one of the poorest regions of the Philippines – but are no longer officially recognised by the Manila government and have little else to do other than nurse historic grievances.

In recent years a dispute over succession rights within the family was sparked by the decision, in 1990, of Esmail’s elder brother Jamalul, who had been crowned sultan in 1986, to leave Sulu for Manila to enter politics and showbusiness in violation of sultanate law. As rival claimants jostled for position, in 2001 Esmail was crowned “Reigning Sultan” by the elders of Sulu. However in November 2012 Jamalul once again proclaimed himself sultan and set about securing his position by reasserting his claim to Sabah. As Jamalul was by then living in a shabby two-storey house in a poor suburb of Manila, Esmail continued to administer the court in Sulu as co-regent.

On February 11 2013 a group of around 200 armed men led by another brother, Agbimuddin Kiram, set off to cross the narrow stretch of sea between Sulu and Sabah. The intrusion led to a standoff between the sultan’s followers and Malaysian authorities, followed by a rout which cost the lives of 63 Sulu militants and 10 members of the Malaysian security forces, and forced more than 6,000 Filipinos to flee Sabah. The crisis, the most serious in Malaysia in more than a decade, strained the country’s relationship with the Philippines.

When Jamalul died in October 2013, Esmail was named sultan. He refused to give up his claims to Sabah which he described as “undeniable and indisputable” and appealed to the UN “to take the necessary preferential attentions for a peaceful resolution of the conflict to avoid further bloodshed .”

One of 13 children of Sultan Punjungan Kiram, Esmail Kiram was born on November 9 1939, in Maimbung, Sulu, and was directly descended from the first sultan, Sharif ul–Hashim (1405-?).

Another brother, Phugdal Kiram, has been named the new sultan.


Sumber - Telegraph

Brunei, M’sia mantap

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 11 Ogos – Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam, hari ini, berkenan mengadakan pertemuan dengan Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Dato Laila Utama Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak, bagi Rundingan Pemimpin-pemimpin Tahunan ke-19 di antara Brunei Darussalam dan Malaysia.

Rundingan diadakan dalam suasana yang baik dan mesra, melambangkan hubungan rapat dan lama di antara kerajaan dan rakyat kedua-dua negara.

Dalam kenyataan bersama selepas pertemuan itu, kedua-dua pemimpin mengalu-alukan pengukuhan berterusan hubungan dua hala sejak Rundingan Pemimpin-pemimpin Tahunan ke-18 pada 3 November 2014, dan mengesahkan semula komitmen mereka untuk mempertingkat lagi kerjasama dalam bidang kepentingan umum, demi faedah kedua-dua negara.

Mereka juga menyatakan rasa gembira terhadap perkembangan yang menggalakkan di bawah pelaksanaan Pertukaran Surat yang ditandatangani oleh pemimpin-pemimpin Brunei Darusalam dan Malaysia pada 16 Mac 2009 serta menekankan peranan penting Pertukaran Surat dalam memantapkan lagi hubungan mesra dan istimewa serta memajukan kerjasama strategik.

Kerjasama dalam petroleum, penternakan

Mereka turut melahirkan rasa puas hati dengan kemajuan berterusan yang dicatat oleh Petroleum Brunei dan PETRONAS. Perkongsian lama ini dapat dilihat dengan jelas menerusi kerjasama dalam Bidang Pengaturan Komersial (CAA), Perjanjian Perkongsian Pengeluaran (PSA) dan di negara lain seperti Kanada dan Myanmar. Kedua-dua pemimpin juga menggalakkan Petroleum Brunei dan PETRONAS supaya terus bekerjasama untuk mencari penyelesaian inovatif untuk memperdagangkan penemuan CAA baru-baru ini sebaik sahaja ada peluang. Usaha untuk merealisasikan sebuah pusat luar pesisir sedang diselaraskan oleh Jabatan Tenaga Brunei Darussalam, Jabatan Perdana Menteri (EDPMO).

Perkembangan besar dalam Kumpulan Kerja Bersama Penyatuan Brunei Darussalam-Malaysia mengenai aktiviti yang berkaitan dengan (i) Gumusut/Kakap (GK) dan Padang Geronggong/Jagus Timur (GRG/J) dan (ii) Kinabalu West NAG (KN) dan Padang Maharajalela Utara (MLJ)juga disentuh dan Perjanjian Muktamad dalam kedua-dua bidang pada akhir tahun ini dinanti-nantikan.

Baginda Sultan dan Perdana Menteri Malaysia juga menyatakan rasa puas hati dengan perkembangan yang dicatat oleh kumpulan teknikal bersama mengenai penentuan bersama dan tinjauan sempadan tanah di antara Brunei Darussalam dan Malaysia, mendapati kemajuan telah dicatat dalam beberapa bidang utama. Pihak berkenaan yang menjalankan tinjauan bersama dan aktiviti penentuan digesa untuk melakukannya dengan cepat dan cekap, terutamanya dalam bidang yang penting kepada rakyat kedua-dua negara.

Kedua-dua pemimpin juga menggesa pegawai dua negara ini supaya mempertingkat lagi perbincangan mereka dengan tujuan menubuhkan memorandum persefahaman atau rangka kerja lain yang sesuai, untuk membolehkan pelaksanaan awal peruntukan Pertukaran Surat berhubung dengan hak menggunakan laut serta mempergiatkan usaha untuk membolehkan perbincangan berakhir awal.

Mereka mengesahkan semula komitmen terhadap kerjasama maritim dan meminta pegawai kedua-dua negara supaya meneruskan perbincangan mengenai pertambahan kerjasama dalam bidang ini dengan tujuan mencapai satu memorandum persefahaman dalam kerjasama maritim.

Pemimpin-pemimpin turut mengenang kembali perbincangan berterusan mengenai perkara berkaitan kerjasama perikanan di antara Brunei Darussalam dan Malaysia, termasuk pengawasan penangkapan ikan tradisional. Kedua-dua pemimpin mendapati pegawai kedua-dua pihak kini sedang membincangkan mengenai isu ini dan mengalakkan mereka supaya mengakhiri perbincangan dengan cepat dengan tujuan mencapai memorandum persefahaman dalam kerjasama perikanan.

Pemimpin-pemimpin menyatakan rasa puas hati dengan perkembangan perbincangan mengenai kerjasama ekonomi di antara Brunei Darussalam dan Negeri Sabah dan Sarawak serta mengalu-alukan penglibatan berterusan mengenai Pusat Ternakan Bersepadu Keningau (KILC) di Sabah, dan menggalak kedua-dua pihak supaya terus meninjau bidang kerjasama ekonomi berpotensi yang lain.

Pelancongan, pelaburan diberi perhatian

Mereka juga menyambut baik perkembangan yang dicatat dalam kerjasama telekomunikasi di antara SACOFA, Sarawak, dan DST Communications, Brunei Darussalam. Dalam hal ini, kedua-dua pemimpin berasa gembira dengan pemeteraian Perjanjian Dua Hala untuk Tukaran Optik Gentian Bersama dan Gran IRU pada 11 Ogos 2015.

Kedua-dua pemimpin menyetujui penubuhan Kumpulan Kerja Pelancongan Brunei-Sarawak untuk bekerjasama dalam bidang kesalinghubungan, pemasaran dan promosi serta keselamatan.

Baginda Sultan dan Perdana Menteri Najib Tun Razak juga menyambut baik kerjasama pertanian dua hala di antara Brunei Darussalam dan Sarawak dalam bidang pengeluaran beras, haiwan ternakan dan akuakultur. Kedua-dua pemimpin mengambil perhatian mengenai hasrat Brunei Darussalam dan Sarawak untuk mencapai satu perjanjian untuk bekerjasama dalam bidang minyak kelapa sawit pada masa depan.

Mereka berasa gembira mencatat aliran pelaburan dan perdagangan dua hala yang positif di antara kedua-dua negara. Kerjasama selanjutnya di antara sektor swasta amat digalakkan oleh pemimpin untuk merangsang kerjasama perdagangan dan pelaburan yang lebih mantap, secara dua hala serta serantau menerusi BIMP-EAGA, ke arah realisasi Komuniti Ekonomi ASEAN.

Kedua-dua pemimpin menekankan lagi kepentingan kerjasama berterusan di antara kedua-dua negara untuk melancarkan kemajuan industri perkhidmatan kewangan mereka dan penyeliaan pertubuhan antara sempadan, termasuk pelaburan dalam infrastruktur kewangan Islam kedua-dua negara dalam mengembangkan lagi industri tersebut bersama.

Pemimpin juga menggalak pertukaran berterusan maklumat dan kepakaran di antara Bank Negara Malaysia dan Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam dengan mengambil kira Memorandum Persefahaman yang ditandatangani di antara kedua-dua institusi.

Pemimpin melahirkan kepuasan mengenai perkembangan yang dicatat dalam pembangunan kerjasama dua hala dalam pertahanan, menerusi pertukaran lawatan yang tetap, kursus latihan dan latihan tentera di antara Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei (ABDB) dan Angkatan Bersenjata Malaysia (ATM), yang telah menyumbang ke arah pemupukan persahabatan dan pemahaman di antara kedua-dua pihak.

Mantapkan pertahanan, pendidikan

Kedua-dua pemimpin mengesahkan semula kepentingan kerjasama pertahanan di antara kedua-dua negara, dan memuji kakitangan ABDB dan ATM yang buat masa sekarang berkhidmat dalam Pasukan Sementara Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu di Lubnan (UNIFIL) dan Pasukan Pengawasan Antarabangsa (IMT) di Mindanao, Filipina, atas dedikasi mereka untuk mengekal keamanan dan kestabilan di rantau masing-masing.

Baginda Sultan menyatakan penghargaan terhadap penyertaan Malaysia dalam Kemahiran Menembak Antarabangsa Brunei pada Pertemuan Senjata (BISAM) yang diadakan pada 20-31 Januari 2015 di Bandar Seri Begawan. Perdana Menteri Malaysia juga menyatakan penghargaan terhadap penyertaan Brunei Darussalam dalam Ruang Aeroangkasa dan Maritim Antarabangsa Langkawi ke-13 (LIMA) pada 17-21 Mac 2015 di Langkawi, Malaysia.

Kedua-dua pemimpin menyatakan rasa puas hati dengan inisiatif berterusan yang dilaksanakan untuk mempertingkatkan lagi kerjasama rapat dalam pendidikan, termasuk institusi pembelajaran lebih tinggi dalam bidang penyelidikan, pertukaran pelajar dan fakulti, seminar, ceramah awam dan dalam penerbitan bahan akademik. Sehubungan itu, mereka mengalu-alukan pemeteraian MoU di antara Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali Brunei Darussalam (UNISSA) dan Universiti Islam Malaysia (UIM) pada 27 Mei 2015 dan Persidangan Bersama mengenai “Perkongsian Pengetahuan Islam” oleh UNISSA dan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

Mereka juga mengambil perhatian mengenai kemajuan yang dicatat ketika Mesyuarat Menteri Kesihatan Dua Hala ke-7 di antara Brunei Darussalam dan Malaysia pada 1-2 Disember 2014 di Bandar Seri Begawan, dan mengalu-alukan penubuhan bidang kerjasama baru yang menumpu pada penguatkuasaan kesihatan, mengiktiraf kepentingan rangka kerja peraturan kesihatan yang efektif dan mapan untuk perlindungan kesihatan orang awam.

Baginda Sultan juga mengalu-alukan kerjasama dengan Malaysia dalam mempelopori bidang kesihatan sebagai menyokong wawasan Komuniti ASEAN, terutamanya ketika penganjuran Mesyuarat Menteri Kesihatan ASEAN (AHMM) ke-13 oleh Brunei Darussalam, Mesyuarat Menteri Kesihatan ASEAN+3 ke-7 (7th APTHMM) dan Mesyuarat Menteri Kesihatan ASEAN-China ke-6 (ACHMM) pada 2016.

Mereka gembira dengan perbincangan berterusan mengenai pergerakan banduan dari kawasan di antara Sabah dan Sarawak menerusi Brunei Darussalam dan pergerakan banduan di Brunei Darussalam menerusi Sarawak. Mereka terus menggalak agensi relevan supaya memperkukuh kerjasama dalam bidang ini, terutamanya berusaha untuk memuktamadkan satu prosedur operasi standard (SOP) yang dipersetujui.

Peningkatan hubungan kebudayaan di antara kedua-dua negara sejak setahun lalu turut diberi perhatian kedua-dua pemimpin. Baginda Sultan mengambil perhatian terhadap minat Malaysia untuk meninjau kerjasama dalam bidang keluarga, wanita dan kanak-kanak, dan menggalakkan kedua-dua pihak supaya menimbang kemungkinan mengadakan penempatan pegawai dan kakitangan dua hala, serta pertukaran kepakaran di antara kementerian yang terbabit.

Manakala Perdana Menteri Malaysia mengalu-alukan penyertaan atlet Brunei Darussalam pada Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) di Sarawak, Malaysia pada 2016, dan menyatakan harapan agar kontinjen Brunei Darussalam menyertai sukan itu secara berterusan pada masa depan.

Baginda Sultan juga menyambut baik sokongan dan penyertaan Malaysia dalam Sukan Sekolah ASEAN 2015 ke-7 yang akan berlangsung pada 21-29 November 2015 di Bandar Seri Begawan untuk kali pertamanya, bertujuan mempertingkat persahabatan dalam kalangan pelajar di rantau, mempromosi perpaduan belia ASEAN menerusi sukan sekolah serta menyediakan peluang untuk atlet sekolah berinteraksi dan membabitkan diri dalam pertukaran kebudayaan di ASEAN.

Kedua-dua pemimpin menyatakan rasa gembira dengan ketibaan pelancong yang memberangsangkan di antara kedua-dua negara. Baginda Sultan berasa gembira Malaysia adalah sumber pelancong terbesar untuk Brunei Darussalam, dan berasa puas hati dengan pertambahan jumlah pelawat dari Malaysia.

Mereka menggesa pegawai kedua-dua buah negara supaya terus bekerjasama untuk memperkukuhkan lagi kerjasama pelancongan di antara Brunei Darussalam dan Malaysia.

Baginda Sultan dan kerajaan serta rakyat Brunei Darussalam menyampaikan takziah kepada mangsa dan keluarga yang terjejas oleh gempa bumi di Ranau, Sabah, pada 5 Jun 2015. Baginda Sultan juga menyampaikan rasa simpati kepada penduduk yang kehilangan tempat tinggal dan kerosakan harta yang dialami akibat banjir dan runtuhan tanah di Sabah.

Perdana Menteri Malaysia pula mengucapkan terima kasih atas sumbangan yang dibuat oleh kerajaan Baginda Sultan serta rakyat Brunei Darussalam menerusi “Dana Kemanusiaan untuk Mangsa Banjir di Malaysia” terhadap usaha bantuan banjir di Malaysia pada Disember 2014, dan atas bantuan yang dihulurkan oleh anggota pertubuhan bukan kerajaan Negara Brunei Darussalam, Anggota Sukarelawan Belia Negara (SBK) dan Cabaran, Pengembaraan, Rekreasi dan Mendidik (CARE) pada Januari 2015.

Perdana Menteri Malaysia merakamkan penghargaan terhadap sokongan padu Brunei Darussalam sepanjang penganjuran ASEAN oleh Malaysia dan dalam masa yang sama, Baginda Sultan memuji kepimpinan Malaysia terutamanya, lapan dasar utama yang digariskasarkan oleh Malaysia untuk menubuhkan Komuniti ASEAN secara formal, termasuk tumpuan dalam merealisasikan ASEAN yang “menumpu pada rakyat”. Baginda Sultan juga tidak sabar untuk menghadiri Sidang Kemuncak ASEAN akan datang yang dijangka diadakan di Kuala Lumpur pada 20-22 November 2015.

Kedua-dua pemimpin menyatakan rasa puas hati mereka dengan keputusan mesyuarat ini dan mengalu-alukan pelaksanaan keputusan yang dicapai bersama untuk hubungan dua hala dan kerjasama yang lebih kukuh di antara Brunei Darussalam dan Malaysia.

Baginda Sultan juga menyampaikan salam mesra kepada semua warga Malaysia pada sambutan perayaan Hari Raya Aidilfitri baru-baru ini, dan juga mengucapkan tahniah kepada Malaysia bersempena Hari Kebangsaan ke-58 pada 31 Ogos 2015. Perdana Menteri Malaysia juga mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya kepada semua warga Brunei bersempena sambutan perayaan Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Kedua-duanya bersetuju untuk mengadakan Rundingan Pemimpin Tahunan ke-20 di Malaysia pada 2016.


Sumber - Media Permata

Former Moro rebels pin hopes on long-term peace to improve lot

Six former MILF camps to be handed over to joint task force as part of reconciliation efforts

Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel group chairman Murad Ebrahim (left) and
Philippine President Benigno Aquino (in yellow shirt) inspect rebel firearms during
a decommissioning ceremony in Sultan Kudarat last Tuesday.

Simuay Crossing, Sultan Kudarat: Mohammad Yakub Nur still remembers the period when he had to take up arms not just for protection, but to oust an oppressive government.

He recalls a tumultuous time when then President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972. Barely out of his teens, Nur took up arms against the government and joined the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a secessionist movement that aimed to establish a nation for Moros, the Muslims of southern Philippines.

“It was a difficult period, not just for me being a rebel but for my family as well,” Nur said.

Later on he switched his allegiance to a breakaway faction of the MNLF, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a movement that not just wants to put up a state for Muslims in the Philippine, but also establish an independent area in the South where Moros can not only observe their faith, but also their distinct customs and follow Islamic law.

Nur rose up in the MILF hierarchy to become head of the operations department of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), the movement’s armed wing.

Nur said he had fought one battle too many and is looking forward to such a time when he can settle down with his family peacefully. At 57, he can only do so much as look back over the lost opportunities and the lives claimed by the conflict.

In ceremonies at the Old Sultan Kudarat Provincial Capitol building, Nur led 145 members of the BIAF in registering with the government for “decommissioning,” as part of processes agreed upon by the two sides.

Asked by Gulf News if he agreed to the decommissioning in exchange for any favour from the government, he said: “They did not promise us anything.”

During the ceremony, those who agreed to be decommissioned were issued a special card that makes them eligible for health benefits and other government assistance.

At the same ceremony in Simuay Crossing, 75 weapons ranging from Second World War era firearms as well as a heavy machinegun and several mortars were turned over to the International Decommissioning Body led by Turkey, with Brunei and Norway also being members. Some of the weapons are still in working condition or are serviceable. They will be stored in Camp Iranun in Maguindanao at a structure guarded by the government and the MILF. The handing over of the weapons and registration of the “decommissioned” MILF fighters signal the start of the decommissioning process.

President Benigno Aquino witnessed the ceremony alongside members and senior MILF officials as well as government officials.

Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, the lead peace negotiator for the government, said the decommissioning process had been agreed upon earlier during the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in March last year. It is part of the “normalisation” phase of the pact that aims to provide former rebels with an opportunity to return to civilian life.

The fact that the ceremonies were performed at a dilapidated government building in Simuay Crossing was symbolic and intended.

“We are at a crossroad,” MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said while pointing out that after over 17 years of negotiations, the government and the MILF only have the choice of two paths.

“The first road leads to a dark fearful Bangsamoro area — without hope, without peace, without justice. It leads to a Bangsamoro where people’s lives are shorter, where children do no have good education and where young men and women have no jobs and where natural resources are exploited to the detriment of the Bangsamoro people.”

“The second road leads to a Bangsamoro that is prosperous and free where children can dream and be whoever they want to be.”

“We in the MILF have made a choice. We choose a Bangsamoro that is happy and peaceful. We choose security over insecurity,” Iqbal said during a speech delivered at the decommissioning ceremonies in Simuay Crossing.

The MILF and the government had signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in March last year after more than a decade of peace negotiations.

Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress are now reviewing the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that will be implemented in Muslim majority areas in the Philippines after a referendum. Aquino said he expects to sign the new law before his term in office ends in 2016.

MILF Chairperson Murad Ebrahim said agreeing to decommissioning is by no means a sign of “weakness” for the MILF.

“Some people think that allowing the start of the decommissioning despite the fact that the Bangsamoro Basic Law has been passed is a sign of weakness. It is not. It is a sign of strength for our strength does not lie in our firearms but in the love and affection of the Bangsamoro people,” he said.

He said what is important is that the MILF rank and file has the support of the Bangsamoro people. “We may have all the arms in the world, and yet there will be no victory [without the support of the Moro people],” Murad said.

The CAB stipulates that 30 per cet of MILF combatants and weapons will be decommissioned upon the passage of the BBL, to be followed by another 35 per cent after the plebiscite and the appointment of members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority. The remaining 35 per cent will be decommissioned once the Bangsamoro government is established and its leaders are duly elected.

Murad said that as part of the decommissioning process it had been agreed upon that six major camps of the MILF will be turned over to a joint MILF-government task force.

These former MILF camps are expansive and are situated in agricultural areas. Camp Iranun (former Camp Abubakre As Siddique), which overlaps the boundaries of three provinces in Central Mindanao for example, is about the size of Singapore.

The area is also rich in natural and mineral resources such as shale rocks. A foreign firm has been reported to be eyeing the establishment of a fracking facility at a site in Camp Iranun.

For Mohammad Yakub Nur, he can only do so much as pin his hopes on the prospect of the BBL being passed so that his children and grandchildren would be able to reap the promised benefits of a brighter economic future without the fear of conflict.

“We owe it to our Bangsamoro brothers that we right the wrongs that we had committed in the past. This is what we have collectively fought for,” he said.


Sumber - GulfNews.com

MILF says ‘war is not an option’ in case BBL fails to get Congress nod

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Monday assured the public that it will not take up arms even if the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will not get Congress' approval, saying “war is not an option.”

On its website, the MILF clarified that it has “never issued any official statement that it will go to war over the non-passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law which is under deliberations in both houses of Congress.”

“On the contrary, the MILF consistently maintains that no matter what happens to the BBL, the pursuit of peace would remain the menu in setting the armed conflict in Mindanao,” the MILF said in a statement.

“War is not an option to the MILF,” it added.

The MILF gave the assurance after Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. appealed to the rebel group not to resort to threats and warnings if Congress fails to pass the BBL, which will establish a new political entity in Mindanao to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The MILF, and its chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, have repeatedly said that the rebel group is committed to the peace process.

On Tuesday, Marcos welcomed the statement coming from the MILF.

"That is a very encouraging statement  from the MILF. It is an important point that helps the people’s confidence in the MILF as partners for peace,” Marcos said in a text message to GMA News Online.

Marcos chairs the Senate committee on local government, which is conducting public hearings on the proposed BBL.

Marcos earlier opposed the Malacañang-sponsored BBL and instead, will file a substitute bill after Tuesday's last public hearing.

Peace with MILF

Earlier in May, the Armed Forces of the Philippines also said that it believes the peace with the MILF will hold even if the deadline that Congressional leaders set to pass the BBL lapses.

"'Yung overwhelming numbers naman nila (MILF) are for peace naman, that will influence the other members who are — who might be hawkist. There are a lot of MILF members who are for peaceful means, who are doves," AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Joselito Kakilala said then.

Iqbal, in an open letter to the Filipino people in May, also said that "even if the BBL will not pass Congress, [the MILF] will always pursue the path of peace in the resolution of the Moro Problem or Question in Mindanao."

He has also repeatedly warned, however, that failure to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law could mean that more radical groups will eclipse the MILF in terms of influence on how to best resolve the conflict in that part of Mindanao.

"The next generation of Moro leaders, young and idealist, would be expected to be more radical than the contemporary Moro leaders, who, as a consequence of their 43 long years of struggle, are more pragmatic and reasonable," he said in his letter in May.

The BBL embodies the peace agreement signed by the government and the MILF in March last year.

Marcos heads the Senate local government committee, which is currently tackling the BBL. He had earlier said that his committee cannot pass the Malacañang-drafted bill as it has many questionable provisions.

In its statement, the MILF appealed to Marcos to “fast-track your process and come out with your committee report.”

“You may have all the best intentions, because you want a good BBL, but time is running out,” it said, noting that the BBL “has been in Congress for nine months already and, therefore, it is not true to say that the BBL is being rushed up.”

“The flipside is truer: The passage of the BBL is getting snagged. This is the popular impression thus far created,” the group said.

'Revolutionary group'

In February, Iqbal reminded the government that, despite signing the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in 2014, the MILF is still a revolutionary organization.

"While we may have signed a peace agreement with the government after 18 years of intermittent war and negotiations, that peace agreement has yet to be implemented. Until the peace agreement is fully implemented, we will remain to be a revolutionary organization," Iqbal said in a letter to senators holding an investigation on the Mamasapano clash in January, where more than 60 people died during a police operation against international terrorists in the area.

Forty-four Special Action Force troopers died in the clash, which the MILF maintains was an act of self-defense. Thy said they had not been informed of the operation as agreed to in ceasefire protocols.

The Mamasapano clash has contributed to the delay in the passage of the BBL, and has polarized public opinion on the peace process with the MILF.

Despite the delay on the passage of the BBL, the government and MILF peace panels have continued meeting on the eventual decommissioning of MILF armed units.

Iqbal said on Monday that the first 145 fighters from the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the MILF's armed wing, are set to disarm "very soon."


Sumber - GMA News Online

MNLF affirms solidarity with MILF

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1,500 anggota MILF daftar sebagai pengundi

Anggota kumpulan pemisah Barisan Pembebasan Islam Moro (MILF)
beratur untuk mendaftar sebagai pengundi

MANILA 7 Mac - Kira-kira 1,500 anggota kumpulan Barisan Pembebasan Islam Moro (MILF) mendaftar sebagai pengundi di sini, hari ini, sebagai mentaati perjanjian damai tahun lalu.

Kesemua mereka yang hanya berpakaian biasa dan tidak bersenjata, mengambil gambar dan mengecap jari di bangunan kerajaan di bandar Sultan Kudarat, selatan negara ini bagi memenuhi syarat untuk memiliki kad pengenalan pengundi.

“Kesemua mereka berminat untuk mengundi,” ujar jurucakap kumpulan MILF, Von al-Haq.

Katanya lagi, sesetengah daripada mereka merupakan pengundi buat kali pertama.

“Ini merupakan sebahagian daripada persiapan untuk memimpin kerajaan kami sendiri,” ujarnya yang merujuk kepada perjanjian Mac 2014 di mana MILF komited untuk menamatkan pemberontakan bersenjata yang meragut 120,000 nyawa di selatan negara ini.

Sebagai sebahagian perjanjian itu, MILF bersetuju melucutkan senjata dan Presiden Filipina, Benigno Aquino bakal membenarkan penubuhan wilayah autonomi Islam Bangsamoro.

Ketua Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Wilayah, Rey Sumalipao membe­ritahu AFP, dijangkakan kira-kira 1,500 anggota mendaftar hari ini bagi membolehkan mereka me­ngundi dalam pilihan raya umum dan pilihan raya tempatan.

Kumpulan MILF bertungkus lumus menuntut wilayah autonomi di pulau-pulau di selatan negara ini sejak tahun 1970-an.– AFP


Sumber - Utusan Malaysia Online

MILF seeks justice for 18 fighters, 5 civilians killed in Mamasapano clash

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Sunday said it also wanted justice for its 18 fighters, as well as for five civilians, killed in the Mamasapano clash with members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) last Jan. 25.

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, in a statement, said justice should also be served the families of the 18 MILF combatants and five civilians slain during the encounter and not only government troopers.

“Seeking justice should not be confined on the (fate of the) SAF 44, but should be extended to also include the orphans and widows of the 18 MILF fighters and five civilians killed in the Mamasapano incident,” Iqbal said.

It was not clear as to how the MILF wanted justice served, but Iqbal hinted that everything would hinge on the third party country facilitator Malaysia and which has been aided by international observer-countries in the peace process between the Philippine government and the MILF.

Culpability on the part of MILF members or of the government forces, if any, would be best determined in an international forum where the MILF would be treated as a “non-state actor,” Iqbal said.

He noted that during the third day of the Senate hearing on the Mamasapano tragedy last month, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago raised the issue of the UN International Law on Belligerency by asking Justice Secretary Leila de Lima if the law could be applied to the MILF, “as a non-state actor,” instead of the national law on insurgency.

Answering on the affirmative, De Lima added that “international laws form part of the laws of the land, your honor,” recalled Iqbal.

Iqbal said he respected Santiago “as an erudite woman and an acknowledged constitutionalist.”

Iqbal’s statement also came amid reports that an Indonesian was among those killed with the MILF in Mamasapano.

On an accusation by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano that the MILF was coddling a terrorist, Iqbal said the reality was that Indonesians have been freely traveling from Davao del Sur to Indonesia and vice versa, without visa requirement, and it would be difficult to determine who among them was a foreign terrorist.

Regional trade cooperation agreements include waiver of the visa requirement on business tourists from member-countries of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).

Moreover, he said, “the Indonesians are our brothers, because they also (belong to the) Malay (race),” he said.

“We only accord them the Bangsamoro hospitality. (But) we don’t (actually monitor) their activities.”

“It has been said over again, from the time we wrote the President of the United States of America on January 20, 2003, that the MILF renounce terrorism and we have no links with the terrorist groups, like the Jemaah Islamiyah,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal stressed that the “misencounter” between the SAF and the MILF was a result of lack of proper coordination.

“What happened here (Mamasapano) was (that) there was no coordination. The last encounter between MILF and military was in 2011 in Al Barka (Basilan). Since then, there has been no encounter except until the tragic incident on Jan. 25, 2015,” Iqbal said.


Sumber - Inquirer Global Nation

‘Still no justice’ in the Bangsamoro lands

At the Senate investigation, MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal enumerated some of the injustices wrought against Moros throughout history.

By DEE AYROSO

At the Senate hearing on the Mamasapano operations on Feb. 12, Mohagher Iqbal tried to give a brief picture of why the Moro people have turned to armed struggle.

“We were the first ones to become victims,” said the MILF leader, in response to Senator Allan Peter Cayetano’s statements blaming the MILF for the conflict in Mindanao.

Iqbal said that after Moros fought should-to-shoulder with Christians against the Japanese colonizers in World War II, the government has passed many oppressive laws, such as the Quirino-Recto colonization of Mindanao, which treated the island as “colony.” He said the government thought of “the ultimate solution to the Moro problem” by settling people from Luzon and Visayas to Mindanao.

In 1968, there was the Jabidah Massacre, where Moro youths recruited to reclaim Sabah were gunned down in Corregidor Island, after some tried to report to higher ups about hardships in their covert training.

Iqbal said the incident was an “eye-opener” for many Moros. Then a student in Manila, he joined demonstrations, including the nine-day protest in Malacañang, to seek justice for the victims.
 Moro leaders led by Cotabato governor Datu Udtug Matalam formed the Mindanao Independence Movement. In turn, Christians formed the “Ilaga,” a vigilante group, which was responsible for killing “tens of thousands of Moros,” Iqbal said.

“The Moros saw that the fight was not fair,” Iqbal said. And this was the turning point, when Moros took up arms. The secessionist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was formed in 1969 by Nur Misuari.

During martial law, various massacres were committed by the Philippine government through its military, and Iqbal enumerated some of them at the senate hearing:

“On June 19, 1971, there was the Manila massacre, with 70 dead; on Oct. 24, 1971, 66 were dead in what was Magsaysay in Lanao (del Norte); in Taktako, four were killed on Nov. 22, 1971; in Pata island massacre, February 1981, there were 2,000 dead, but according to government there were only 750 dead; Patikul (Sulu) massacre, Oct 1977, 600 dead; and there were also those killed in Malisbong, Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, more than 1,000, women, children, the elderly.”

“Up to now there is no justice,” Iqbal said.

“We organized because it was not a fair match,” Iqbal said. “It would be on the same level if we use arms,” he said.

The MILF was formed in 1978, dissatisfied with the MNLF’s peace talks with the Marcos regime.

The MNLF later signed a peace agreement with the Corazon Aquino government. Later, in 1997, the MILF also entered in its own peace agreement, this time with the Ramos administration.

Seventeen years later, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (Cab) was signed with the Philippine government under President Aquino.

The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) broke away from the MILF in 2012, to continue the armed struggle for secession.


Sumber - Bulatlat

Sultanate committed to overseeing disarmamentof MILF fighters

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Klaim atas Sabah akan terus berlanjut meskipun Kiram tewas

Oleh Rene P. Acosta

Putra mahkota Kesultanan Sulu dan Borneo Utara [Sabah], Agbimmudin Kiram, 74, meninggal pada tanggal 13 Januari. Ia memimpin serangan Lahad Datu di Sabah pada tahun 2013.

Sultan Abraham Idjirani, sekretaris jenderal dan juru bicara Kesultanan, mengatakan kematian Raja Muda [putra mahkota] Agbimmudin Kiram akan mendorong pengikutnya untuk merebut kembali Sabah di bawah bimbingan pemimpin mereka, Sultan Esmail Kiram II.

"Perjuangan akan dilanjutkan dengan dalil yang sama," kata Idjirani, beberapa jam setelah Kesultanan mengkonfirmasi kematian Agbimmudin di kediamannya di Simunul, Tawi-Tawi, sebuah provinsi pulau di Filipina selatan yang berbatasan dengan Sabah.

"Dia meninggal dengan tenang setelah menderita serangan jantung. Kematiannya terjadi dengan cepat," kata Idjirani. Agbimmudin akan digantikan oleh adiknya, Datu Phungkal Kiram, sebagai raja muda.

Memimpin serangan ke Sabah

Agbimmudin memimpin lebih dari 200 pejuang dari Royal Sultanate Force [RSF] dalam serangan berani Lahad Datu pada bulan Februari 2013 dalam upaya untuk merebut kembali Sabah dari Malaysia.

Serangan oleh para pejuang dari Mindanao di Filipina dengan Tawi-Tawi sebagai pangkalan mereka berakhir dengan pertempuran dengan pasukan Malaysiaselama beberapa pekan. Umat Muslim Filipina yang tinggal di Sabah mendukung upaya pengambilalihan itu.

Puluhan pejuang Kesultanan dan tentara Malaysia tewas dalam pertempuran, yang berlangsung selama berminggu-minggu sebelum penandatanganan perjanjian damai antara pemerintah Filipina dan Front Pembebasan Islam Moro [MILF].

Keputusan pemerintah Filipina untuk menutup perbatasan selatan dengan Malaysia mencegah bala bantuan pasukan Kesultanan oleh pejuang dari kelompok saingan MILF, Front Pembebasan Nasional Moro [MNLF].

MNLF mendukung upaya Kesultanan  untuk merebut kembali Sabah, karena sebagian besar anggota kelompok - bahkan ketua pendirinyaNur Misuari - berasal dari Sulu, yang berada di bawah Kesultanan.

Seperti anggota MNLF, sebagian besar pejuang Kesultanan adalah suku Tausug, yang dianggap sebagai prajurit paling berani di antara klan Muslim di Filipina.

Serangan Lahad Datu - yang didukung oleh Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, pemimpin Kesultanan Sulu dan Borneo Utara - dilakukan sebagai protes terhadap perjanjian perdamaian, yang ditengahi dan difasilitasi oleh Malaysia.

Pada saat serangan, pemerintah dan MILF berada dalam negosiasi dan hanya kurang dari dua bulan menjelang penandatanganan perjanjian.

Selama pertempuran, muncul laporan bahwa Agbimmudin telah tewas dalam pertempuran itu, tetapi Idjirani mengatakan putra mahkota berlayar kembali ke Tawi-Tawi empat bulan yang lalu.

"Dia merasakan gangguan kesehatan dan itulah sebabnya ia kembali ke Tawi-Tawi, meninggalkan anak buahnya di Sabah," kata Idjirani.

Pertempuran terakhir di Sabah

Juru bicara militer Kolonel Restituto Padilla Jr mengatakan kematian Agbimmudin seharusnya mengakhiri upaya oleh pejuang Kesultanan untuk menyusup ke Sabah dan melibatkan Malaysia ke dalam perang. Padilla menggambarkan Agbimmudin sebagai prajurit yang tak kenal takut.

Keluarga mendiang putra mahkota adalah pewaris kesultanan yang dulu sangat luas, yang sekarang dianggap sebagai "kerajaan tanpa wilayah."

Pada bulan Juli 2014, KSAB Filipina yang baru, Jenderal Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., memerintahkan militer untuk meningkatkan patroli di dalam perbatasan negara itu dengan Malaysia untuk memastikan bahwa para pejuang bersenjata dari Mindanao tidak bisa menyeberang ke Sabah lagi.

Catapang tidak ingin mengulang insiden Lahad Datu, yang hampir menyebabkan Filipina berperang dengan Malaysia, bila saja Kuala Lumpur tidak membatalkan rencana pemboman di perbatasannya untuk menghentikan warga Muslim Filipina memperkuat pejuang RSF di Sabah.

Mengejar Sabah melalui cara-cara damai

Idjirani mengatakan Kesultanan akan mengejar klaim atas Sabah di bawah bimbingan Sultan Esmail Kiram II. Esmail adalah pribadi moderat, yang memilih untuk bernegosiasi dengan Malaysia atas masalah Sabah, dibandingkan dengan kakaknya, Jamalul, yang meninggal pada Oktober 2013.

Secara historis, Sabah adalah bagian dari Kesultanan Sulu, tetapi Malaysia menegaskan kepemilikannya melalui Federasi Malaysia yang dibuat pada tahun 1963.

Awalnya, Sabah diserahkan ke Sultan Sulu pada abad ke-17 oleh Sultan Brunei. Kesultanan Sulu menyewakan wilayah tersebut kepada British North Borneo Company [BNBC] pada tahun 1798.

BNBC, yang kemudian di bawah kendali Inggris pada tahun 1946, mengembalikan wilayah itu ke Malaysia. Malaysia mengklaim BNBC membeli Sabah. Kesultanan Sulu membalas bahwa Malaysia membayar sewa kepada keluarga Kiram.

Pada tahun 2004, Kesultanan meminta Mahkamah Internasional PBB untuk menyelesaikan klaim kepemilikan, tapi Idjirani mengatakan pengadilan tidak bisa berlanjut karena Kesultanan tidak memiliki kedudukan sebagai negara.

Pembicaraan rahasia

Idjirani mengatakan pembicaraan awal yang bertujuan untuk mengatur pertemuan resmi mengenai masalah antara Kuala Lumpur dan Kesultanan, adalah bukti bahwa Esmail ingin menyelesaikan klaim melalui cara-cara damai.

Kesultanan adalah pemilik Sabah yang sah dan sesungguhnya, klaim Idjirani.

Idjirani mengingat posisi Esmail dengan Malaysia terkait Sabah: "Bagaimana Malaysia dapat terus menduduki, mengeksploitasi dan memanfaatkan kekayaan dan sumber daya alam Kalimantan Utara [Sabah], seperti minyak, yang bukan milik mereka menurut hak bersejarah dan hak hukum?"

Militer Filipina mendukung potensi perundingan itu. Padilla mengatakan adanya kesepakatan berarti akan menghapus satu masalah keamanan.

Melemahnya klaim Sabah melalui perjanjian damai MILF

Sementara Kesultanan Sulu mendukung kesepakatan damai antara MILF dan pemerintah, mereka menentang masuknya Laut Sulu secara sepihak dalam perjanjian kerangka kerjanya.

Mereka menyatakan bahwa masuknya Sulu akan melemahkan klaim atau perjuangan mereka mendapatkan Sabah melawan Malaysia.

Laut Sulu meliputi Palawan; Zamboanga del Norte; Zamboanga City; Basilan; bagian dari Provinsi Negros; Sulu; Tawi-Tawi hingga Teluk Darver dan Lahad Datu di Sabah hingga Selat Sibutu.

Provinsi-provinsi Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu dan Tawi-Tawi tercakup dalam kesepakatan damai antara pemerintah dan MNLF, yang ditandatangani pada tahun 1976 di Tripoli, Libya, dan ditegaskan dalam "Perjanjian Perdamaian Akhir" yang ditandatangani pada tahun 1996.

Perjanjian tersebut menghasilkan penciptaan Daerah Otonomi Muslim Mindanao [ARMM] yang meliputi lima provinsi.

MNLF, yang menentang kesepakatan damai antara pemerintah dan MILF, berpendapat dimasukkannya ARMM di bawah wilayah yang diperluas yang akan diciptakan untuk MILF, secara sepihak akan membatalkan perjanjian damai dengan pemerintah.


Sumber - Asia-Pacific Defense Forum

MILF takes next step to polls, seeks Comelec nod for party

COTABATO CITY—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has taken the next step to its foray into politics, submitting an application for accreditation at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for a political party formed by MILF leaders and members.

MILF on Tuesday announced that it had already submitted its application for accreditation at the Comelec for the political group United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP).

Sammy Al-Mansoor, MILF’s military chief, did not say when the accreditation documents had been submitted but that the group had already registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), one of the requirements of the Comelec for accreditation.

Al-Mansoor, also UBJP secretary general, said the MILF-led political party’s first task is to campaign for ratification of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which would create a new autonomous system to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The proposed law, if passed by Congress and signed by President Aquino, would be put to a vote in a plebiscite before its provisions, especially on creating a new autonomous region, could be implemented.

The creation of a new autonomous region is the key feature of a peace agreement between MILF and the administration of President Aquino.

Al-Mansoor said UBJP would have a general assembly on Dec. 23-25 which would be open to even non-MILF members.

He said MILF is organizing the assembly “to prove that UBJP is now in business.”

UBJP, he said, would gather at least 25,000 MILF members “to educate them on the country’s electoral system.”

“If we want to sustain this political party, we need to prove that it is really existing,” he said.

MILF had announced the creation of a political party as early as March.

Mohaqher Iqbal, the MILF chief negotiator and chair of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), said the UBJP might affiliate with a national political party.

He said the party would field candidates in the elections that would be held for positions in the future Bangsamoro region.

Al-Mansoor said MILF, through UBJP, is establishing a network of supporters, even as it expects to enlist more community-based volunteers in Basilan, Lanao Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Simeon Datumanong, former Maguindanao representative, said in a paper submitted to members of the House committee studying the BBL that the proposed law would pass legal and constitutional scrutiny.

In his paper, Datumanong said the Constitution allows Congress to determine the kind of government—parliamentary or unitary—for the autonomous region.

“The choice of Congress to create a parliamentary form of government within the Bangsamoro is well within its plenary authority,” said Datumanong’s paper.

“It is an exercise of its absolute legislative discretion and wisdom,” it said.


Sumber - Inquirer News


MILF to disarm in January

The number of firearms that will be decommissioned by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front will be “much, much more” than what was turned over by Banda Aceh rebels in Indonesia, government chief negotiator Miriam Ferrer said on Wednesday.

“The MILF already submitted a list of all its weapons as well as combatants in a confidential letter to President Benigno Aquino III. The total number of firearms that will be decommissioned will not be like Banda Aceh with only 1,000 firearms. It will be much, much more,” Ferrer said.

Ferrer said the first batch of weapons—55 high-powered firearms and 20 crew-served weapons—will be decommissioned in January.

The MILF also offered to decommission 150 combatants during the symbolic turnover ceremony.

“The decommissioning of the first 150 combatants was a proposal from the MILF. Under the agreement that we signed, the MILF is only required to turnover weapons in the first batch of decommissioning,” Ferrer said.

Ferrer could not yet give a definite date for the ceremony, but said it will be after the visit of Pope Francis in January.

Presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles, for her part, said the government and the MILF are “not quibbling” over numbers in so far as the decommissioning process is concerned.

“Numbers do not matter. What we want is to be able to give the opportunity to as many as possible to start afresh as civilians,” Deles said.

Ferrer said six acknowledged MILF camps will also be turned into productive civilian communities with intervention from various government agencies, led by the Department of Agriculture.

“We will take a look at how to improve the socio-economic conditions in the areas surrounding the MILF base camps,” she said.

“The interventions will be in the form of delivery of quick-impact projects such as farm implements, fishing boats, seedlings, and livestock, among others, to pump prime the livelihood of the communities,” Ferrer added.

Deles, for her part, remained optimistic that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law will be enacted  by Congress within the first quarter of 2015 to ensure that a plebiscite is held by the middle of next year.

“When you’ve gotten to where we’ve gotten, your frame of mind changes. You just want to see this through to the end,” Deles said.


Sumber - Manila Standard Today

Bangsamoro Dev’t Plan ‎to present clear path to peace and dev't - Deles

SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao, Nov 6 -- "‎This Bangsamoro Development Plan is important because it gathers the collective hopes and aspirations of the Bangsamoro people, government leaders, partners in the business and private sectors, and civil society organizations, into a concrete plan. It is a vision of the Bangsamoro, by the Bangsamoro, for the Bangsamoro,"‎ said Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles on Sunday at the turnover and launch of the Bangsamoro Development Plan at the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) Camp Darapanan in this province.

Addressing an audience of more than four hundred guests, Deles congratulated the leadership and members of the MILF and the Bangsamoro Development Agency for completing the BDP that she describes as a valuable tool for development that will provide strategic directions for the delivery and upgrade of basic services to the communities once the Bangsamoro political entity is established.

”What makes this Bangsamoro Development Plan even more valuable is its attempt to present a clear vision of peace and development that was crafted by your own hands, and came from the hearts and minds of those who have struggled for so long to bring peace in the communities,” the peace adviser said.

According to MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, the BDP’s overall goal is to support milestones in the Bangsamoro peace process by laying the foundation of a just, peaceful and prosperous Bangsamoro society.

“The responsibility of producing a plan that would guarantee the transformation of the deplorable conditions of our grassroots communities to a life with dignity is not an easy task,” Ebrahim said while expressing his gratitude for the assistance of government and the international community in coming up with the plan. ‎

Officer-in-charge of the World Bank in the Philippines Matt Stephens said that the formulation of the BDP is a bold move on the part of the MILF. “I think through this process, we’ve seen that investment bearing fruit.  Because when you started developing the BDP, it began with relationships of trust, relationships of mutual understanding with the government and with the development partners," he said.

The BDP was developed through the support of the Mindanao Trust Fund, a multi-donor facility that was started in 2006 to support economic and social recovery and promotes inclusive and effective governance in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao. It is currently administered by the World Bank.

On November 5-6, the BDP will be presented to the public through the Philippines Development Forum on Bangsamoro to be held in Davao City. President Benigno Simeon Aquino III will be in attendance to affirm government's partnership with the MILF and invite the international community, private sector and civil society in its implementation.

Continued commitment of gov't

Deles reiterated the administration's commitment to see through the implementation of the signed Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, from ensuring the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to the establishment of the political entity.

"We are committed to walk the path towards peaceful and genuine autonomy with you.   We stand ready to provide whatever guidance and assistance you may need to ensure the successful implementation of the BDP," Deles said.

‎According to the peace adviser, ‎“the challenges and difficulties we have faced this past few years under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III are testament to the strength of commitment and desire of the government and MILF, with the help of our partners, to bring just and lasting peace to the Bangsamoro.”

Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad who was also present at the event and was asked to give a message before the program’s close, echoed the Aquino Administration’s continuing commitment to the peace process and related the instruction of the President to ensure that there is adequate and ample financing for the BDP.

“We are with you here and we will be with you all the way [to make sure you are able to implement this plan],” he said.

A new dawn

Deles declared that with the unveiling of the BDP, “a new dawn has come.  And with the coming of light is the rise of the Bangsamoro.”

The peace adviser noted that the Bangsamoro peace process has already achieved a lot of milestones under the current administration. "We have come so far from decades of conflict, grief, and loss.  Peace that has been elusive is now within our grasp," she said.

Deles called on stakeholders to “safeguard this journey to lasting peace” as there will continue to be more challenges in the road towards the establishment of the Bangsamoro.

“As we have always said, it will take real and much effort, but, just as we all share the responsibility of working for peace and development, so will we all share in the prosperity it will bring,” she said.

The turnover and launch of the BDP was also attended by Malaysian facilitator Tengku Dato' Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed, United Nations Resident Coordinator Luiza Carvalho, Japan International Cooperation Agency chief representative Noriaki Niwa, representatives from international aid agencies and members of civil society.‎


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Bangsamoro, an attempt to redress historical imbalances – retired SC justice

MANILA, Oct. 30  -- ‎Several legal luminaries on Tuesday declared that the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law is constitutional and emphasized that it should be read within the context of restorative justice and addressing historical injustices.

"‎Bangsamoro is an attempt to redress long historical imbalances," retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna on Tuesday said  during a hearing of the Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL at the House of Representatives, presided by Cagayan de Oro second district Representative Rufus Rodriguez, himself ‎a constitutionalist and former Dean of the San Sebastian College of Law.

Azcuna no‎ted that the BBL provides for the recognition of a "distinct (Bangsamoro) nation within the Philippine state” and this is “not unconstitutional." The former SC justice's statement is in reference to the asymmetric relationship between the central and proposed Bangsamoro governments.

"There has to be rebalancing in order to pay for the long list of injustices," Azcuna said, saying that the asymmetric relationship between the autonomous region and central government is an attempt to address that imbalance.

According to Article VI of the proposed BBL, also known as House Bill 4994 at HOR, “the relationship between the Central Government and the Bangsamoro Government shall be asymmetric. This is reflective of the recognition of their Bangsamoro identity, and their aspiration for self-governance. This makes it distinct from other regions and other local governments.”

Azcuna further appreciated the BBL provision that “the Bangsamoro territory shall remain a part of the Philippines.” He said that it’s a “valid provision because (it clarifies that) there is no dismemberment of country involved.”

Meanwhile, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) National Secretary Atty. Nasser Marohomsalic said that "Congress has all reasons to pass this Bangsamoro bill which is not a case of charity, but an ordinance of peace that will rectify historical injustices."

Salic was a member of the independent pool of lawyers invited by the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels to review the draft BBL before its submission to Congress.

Philippine Bar Association Committee on Constitutional Law co-chair Atty. Oscar Tan agrees with Marohomsalic's statement, emphasizing that the BBL is not an ordinary law. He said that reading it can be done either broadly or restrictively. "We are entitled to have legal experiments…This is a broad document to empower future generations. This (law) is not charity, but restorative justice for all of us," he said.

Ateneo School of Government Dean Dr. Antonio La Viña expressed support to the BBL saying that he sees no unconstitutional provisions in the proposed measure. Rather, he lauded the GPH for having done an inclusive peace process. “Thinking ahead of legal challenges, the best scenario here is that you have addressed major issues of major stakeholders.” He recommended, however, that the BBL should be added with a part on definition of terms that will address vagueness of some concepts.

For his part, retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Vicente Mendoza began his comments on the Bangsamoro bill with an appreciation to the GPH in a way that “much has been done (by the Parties) to bring the BBL in conformity with the Constitution.” While he expressed reservations on some provisions like the concept of asymmetric relations, he said he was “glad to see there is effort to comply with the Constitution” when the BBL states that “the President shall exercise general supervision over the Bangsamoro Government”.

BBL, a masterpiece in peace-making

Dr. Jose Abueva, the former President of the University of the Philippines expressed his full support to the passage of the Bangsamoro bill.

“We fully support the enactment of the BBL. What is good for the Moros is good for all Filipinos. (The creation of) Bangsamoro is a welcome model for achieving genuine regional autonomy and development,” he said.

According to Abueva, the Bangsamoro bill is “very enlightening, gratifying” and he is most hopeful that it is a “masterpiece in peace-making” to resolve a decades-old conflict.

The BBL is the enabling law for the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) which was signed by the GPH and MILF early this year. The passage and ratification of BBL will create the Bangsamoro region, which will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Saying that the country needs a progressive political outlook, Abueva pointed out that the “Philippine Constitution must be interpreted as enabling authority rather than as obstacle” to the fulfillment of a Bangsamoro autonomous political entity. “We all need an enlightened sense of history, inclusive view of Filipino nationalism, and broad concept of redistributive justice.

“Our Supreme Court must look forward guided by our lofty national vision in our Constitution and not be bound by restrictive precedents,” urged Abueva.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles, GPH Peace Panel Chair Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, GPH panel member Senen Bacani, Human Rights Victims Claims Board member Chito Gascon, and Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) members Fatmawati Salapuddin and Akmad Sakkam were likewise present during the hearing.

Gascon underscored that the Philippine Constitution clearly mandates autonomy for Muslim Mindanao and the envisioned Bangsamoro is consistent with this mandate of the Constitution itself. He said there is no need for charter change to create the Bangsamoro. “It is possible to establish expanded autonomy we have not achieved ever” in Philippine history.


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