MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chair Nur Misuari agreed to form the government and MNLF panels that will serve as the foundation of the peace coordinating committee, Sen. and former Presidential aide Bong Go said.
According to Go, the agreement was reached after President Duterte met up with Misuari at the Malacañang Palace recently. The two will meet again next month in Davao to finalize things.
Duterte has earlier mulled the creation of a coordinating committee between the government and MNLF in a bid to maintain lasting peace in Mindanao.
The government has a peace pact with the MNLF in 1996, consequently establishing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao where Misuari became a governor.
“This coordinating committee will serve as a venue to seek for the cooperation of the MNLF to achieve immediate peace in Sulu by, among others, helping in combatting the Abu Sayyaf Group and convincing MNLF relatives to return to the folds of the law,” Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
The Palace spokesperson added the committee could “expect the full support of the Office of the President as we move towards our common goal of resolving the conflict that have caused deaths, suffering, and dislocation among the Muslims and Christians alike.”
“In resolving the Muslim rebellion in Mindanao, every undertaking that may lead to a lasting peace and prosperity to that region must be tried and tested until its fruition,” he said. “We can do less as a people, and President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will walk the extra mile to bring harmony to the country and the nation,” he said./PN
