DOJ won’t oppose house arrest for Nur

The Department of Justice (DOJ) expressed no opposition yesterday to the request of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Nur Misuari to be placed under house arrest.

Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Leah Armamento said in a manifestation sent to the office of Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 138 Executive Judge Sixto Marella yesterday, however, that the prosecution demands maximum security if the court decides to grant Misuari’s request.

"The prosecution is of the opinion that the place of stay of the accused for the required continuous treatment is of little significance," Armamento said.

Misuari, who is on medical leave and undergoing treatment at the St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) in Quezon City, asked the court to allow him to stay at a house at No. 27, 6th Street in New Manila, Quezon City.

He and his spiritual adviser, Ustadz Abuharis Usman, are now housed at the Cathedral Heights Building Complex (CHBC) adjacent to the SLMC.

The court granted Misuari and Usman their requests for medical leave on Jan. 24 after Misuari said his incarceration of over four years had taken a toll on his health and that he had been experiencing abdominal pain and erratic blood pressure.

Usman, 68, said he had been suffering from various ailments like severe abdominal, pains, unusually low blood pressure, anemia and frequent dizzy spells.

Misuari, through his lawyer Arthur Lim, said it would be more convenient if he and Usman were allowed to stay in a house rather than the CHBC, considering that their medical leave had been extended to March 29.

The DOJ said it had no objection if the courts placed Misuari and Usman under house arrest as long as maximum security was implemented and the rules governing detention prisoners were strictly followed.

Marella, who also ordered the reinvestigation of rebellion charges against Misuari and his other co-accused, is expected to issue a ruling this week.

Meanwhile, senior MNLF leaders said a high-level conspiracy is now in the works to oust Misuari as chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The leaders expressed alarm over the discreet but high-level government support for the plot reportedly hatched by a so-called "Council of 15" to oust Misuari.

The Council of 15 is composed of former MNLF leaders who bolted and abandoned their positions in the MNLF hierarchy before the May 10, 2004 national elections and are now staging a comeback in the MNLF.

The MNLF said the move, if left unchecked, would result in the Council of 15 leading efforts to ease Misuari out of the MNLF helm.

"We know of their plan and we are taking up this matter on our 38th Bangsamoro Foundation Day late this month," a senior MNL F leader said.

The MNLF senior leader was referring to the group of Hatimil Hassan, Muslimen Sema, Parouk Hussien, Yusof Jikiri, Abu Ambre Toddit, Alfatah Abubakar, Utto Salem Cutan, Abdul Sharin, Datu Dima Ambil and Faisal Abdul Rakman.

Hassan was the former MNLF central committee vice chairman; Sema, now Cotabato City mayor, was formerly MNLF secretary-general; Jikiri was a former Sulu governor and the former chief of staff of the Bangsamoro Armed Forces; Toddit was once the MNLF liaison officer to Malaysia; Alfatah was chief of the MNLF northern command; Cutan was a former chairman of the MNLF’s Socsargen and executive director of the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD); Sharin was a former national intelligence officer for the MNLF central committee; Ambil was the chairman of the MNLF’s North Cotabato Revolutionary State Committee and Rakham was once MNLF chairman for the front’s Davao del Sur Revolutionary Committee.

These 10 and five other former senior MNLF leaders identified only as Hamsa, Mutya, Alano, Doc and King Kong bolted from the MNLF leadership prior to the May 10, 2004 elections, reportedly at the behest of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales.

"Their secret plan is that once (the Council of 15) are accommodated back into the MNLF and installed in their old positions, they would call for a general assembly to elect a new chairman," a source said.

This scenario is reportedly backed by the office of Gonzales, whose main objective is to put an end to the MNLF’s existence to pave the way for the forging of a new peace agreement outside of an already existing Tripoli agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), another Muslim secessionist group in Mindanao.

The STAR tried but failed to reach members of the Council of 15 for comment, though it was learned these former MNLF leaders had already visited and made peace with Misuari at St. Luke’s Hospital last week.

According to the MNLF senior leaders, the government knew for a fact that any accord reached with the MILF would prove to be "non-binding" for the Bangsamoro People and in the eyes of the 56 Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states.

"Thus, there is a need to demolish the MNLF. Mr. Gonzales knew that OIC member countries only acknowledged the MNLF and the Tripoli Agreement and its underlying agreements," the MNLF said.

The Tripoli agreement signed in Libya on Dec. 26, 1976 along with other agreements, such as the Jeddah Accord forged during the term of President Corazon Aquino and the 1996 Jakarta Agreement forged during the tenure of former President Fidel Ramos with the MNLF, came to fore with the blessings of the OIC.

The MNLF sources warned that, if the MNLF is disbanded, the Bangsamoro people would not hesitate to again raise arms against the government.

As part of the Tripoli Agreement, the MNLF agreed to lay down its arms to pave the way for the pact’s enforcement — which has yet to be fully implemented, MNLF senior leaders said.

According to the group, the Council of 15 has been saying in Mindanao that they have been forgiven and allowed by Misuari to rejoin the mainstream MNLF and that they would seek to recover their old posts.

A close aide of Misuari who asked not to be named, also said the Council of 15 were taken back by Misuari following their visit at St. Luke’s.

"Napatawad na sila ni Ma’as (Misuari has forgiven them)," Misuari’s aide told The STAR last week, adding that the move is part of Misuari’s bid to create lasting peace in Mindanao.

But the senior MNLF leaders insisted that while the Council of 15 are welcome into the MNLF fold, they can no longer regain their old posts in the organization: "We welcome them back (council of 15) into the fold because they are our brother Muslims but only as ordinary members. No more, no less."

The incumbent MNLF officials proceeded to warn that any attempt to dislodge Misuari as MNLF chairman will only complicate the peace and order situation in the entire Mindanao area.

They also said that unification moves between the MNLF and MILF would only materialize after the MILF leadership agrees to the parameters set by the MNLF, including the statement that "all MILF are former members of the MNLF that represent the entire Bangsamoro people."

"Ang MILF ay galing naman sa MNLF, kaya wala na dapat na mahabang usapan tungkol dyan (The MILF came from the MNLF, so there should be no lengthy debate about that)," said one MNLF leader. — With Jaime Laude