35 Misuari followers surrender

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — Thirty-five loyal followers of jailed former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Nur Misuari surrendered to the military on Monday and vowed to abide by the Sept. 2, 1996 peace pact between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Led by a foreign-trained commander, Luguim Daud, the 35 members of the Misuari Breakaway Group (MBG) threatened to attack remote farming villages in Carmen, North Cotabato at the height of last year’s revolt in Sulu by their comrades under Ustadz Habier Malik, a known protégé of Misuari.

Daud and his men decided to avail of the government’s reconciliation program through the efforts of Col. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the Army’s 602nd Brigade in Carmen.

Daud told reporters he went into hiding for more than a year after his group openly expressed support to MBG members that fought government forces in Sulu in early 2005.

"But after seeing that the government is now addressing the plight of our leader, Nur Misuari, whom we believe will be released from detention soon, we in the Central Mindanao wing of the MBG decided to come out and surrender to the government," Daud said in the Maguindanaon dialect.

Misuari has been detained since 2002 for leading a failed mutiny in Jolo, Sulu on Nov. 19, 2001, about two weeks before the fourth ARMM elections which he feared would boot him out of power.

Daud and his men turned over to Pabustan, in the presence of Major Gen. Rodolfo Obaniana, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, more than 50 assorted firearms, during a simple ceremony at the headquarters of the 602nd Brigade in Carmen.

Fifteen members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) identified with the front’s chairman, Al-Haj Murad, also surrendered along with Daud and his followers.

The MILF rebels, under Abdullah Panangulun, also turned in assorted military-type weapons and improvised explosives.

Panangulun has confessed to his group’s involvement in the spate of bombings in different parts of the province in retaliation for the military’s takeover in 2000 of Camp Abubakar, the MILF’s bastion, now a peace zone and guarded by a brigade-size Army contingent.

"They have grown tired of fighting the government and wants to live peacefully in their communities as farmers so they decided to return to the fold of law and avail of the governnment’s reconciliation program," Pabustan said, referring to the groups of Daud and Panangulun.