MILF to public: Vote pro peace candidates

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Thursday urged the public to support “pro-peace” candidates and to reject those who are “anti-Moro” in the upcoming election.

The MILF said the drafting of the Bangsamoro law and the holding of the referendum for its approval would be held within the terms of those who will win this year’s polls. 

The MILF, along with the candidates in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), is “appealing to the people to vote intelligently and choose the candidates who are clearly pro-peace and reject those who are clearly anti-Moro.” 

The group said all candidates except Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari are “generally supportive” of the Bangsamoro framework agreement and the peace process.

“This makes the choice very tough for voters,” the MILF said in a statement. 

Lobregat was among those who opposed the botched Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in 2008. He is seeking a congressional seat in one of the districts of Zamboanga City. 

Misuari, meanwhile, opposes the Bangsamoro framework agreement, saying it violates various agreements like the 1996 final peace agreement with the MNLF. He is running for governor in the ARMM.

The government and the MILF signed the Bangsamoro framework agreement last Oct. 15 to pave way for the creation of a new entity that would replace the ARMM. The creation of the new Bangsamoro region will have to be legislated and will have to be subjected to a plebiscite.

The MILF adopts a “hands off” policy on the 2013 elections and refuses to endorse candidates. The group, however, admitted, that the May 13 elections “are not totally outside of the overall purview” of its struggle.

“We have to admit that of all the Philippine elections conducted so far, this is the most problematic to the MILF, as revolutionary organization,” MILF said. 

“The truth is that the line between involvement and appealing, in this particular instance, is so thin that it oftentimes confuses many in relation to implementation of this policy,” it added.