Irate guards padlock Nur’s office

COTABATO CITY — For the fourth time since 1996, members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) employed as security personnel of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Nur Misuari padlocked his office here yesterday to protest the non-payment of their salaries.

Tension waned only after senior MNLF leaders succeeded in pacifying the protesters, some of them relatives of Misuari.

The irate guards agreed to open the main door of the building after they got an assurance that the regional executive secretary and budget officer would look into their complaint.

The 40 MNLF members guarding the ARMM compound here, all ethnic Tausogs, claimed that Misuari has not paid their wages since last October.

Mahendra Madjilon, ARMM information director, however, said the guards’ employment contracts already expired last October.

Madjilon said the guards can only be rehired if the heavily indebted ARMM government will have enough funds for their salaries. — John Unson