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(SDN) — The Central Committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF CC) on Wednesday, June 20, called on President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. “to give paramount importance to justice, peace and security”.
Chaired by Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim, the MILF CC issued the call following the killing of seven legitimate members of the group in the joint Philippine National Police-Armed Forces of the Philippines (PNP-AFP) operation in Barangay Damawato, Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur, at dawn Sunday, June 18.
Those killed in the operation as officially identified by the MILF as its members were Nasser Yousef M. Husain, 34; Norjihad M. Husain, 29; Nasrullah Mamay Singkala, 38; Ivan Pumpugay, 18; Izrael Laguiab, 41; Morsid Madidis, 50; and Mama Karim, 50.
“(T)he MILF CC respectfully call on his Excellency, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr., to give paramount importance to justice, peace and security,” the MILF CC appealed.
The Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO BAR) regional commander Allan Nobleza said the raiding party was serving search warrants on the two Husain brothers, but gunfire met them instead.
On June 20, the MILF CC issued Resolution No. 001, Series of 2023, titled,
”𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐅 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐠𝐲. 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐨, 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐮 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬, 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐫, o𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟏𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑”.
Signed by Von Al-Haq, MILF CC acting secretary, and attested by MILF CC Chair Ebrahim, they asked the national government “to take immediate action on the tragic loss of lives of members of the (MILF)”.
The resolution said the victims belonged to the MILF National Guard Front, 11th Brigade, Inner Guard Base Command.
Related: Bangsamoro Parliament Calls for Return of Int’l Monitors of GPH & MILF Peace Process
It further said the seven victims had already applied “for amnesty, which program is an integral component of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro” signed by the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MILF.
The MILF CC, the group’s highest policy-making body, contended the “loss lives and injustice” in the government’s enforcement of the law including past actions “could have been prevented had the concerned law enforcement agencies observed the Operational Guidelines for the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG)”.
One of the mechanisms of the GPH-MILF peace process, AHJAG is mandated “to coordinate and monitor between and among the AFP, PNP, and MILF to ensure that law enforcement operations against criminal elements within MILF areas are effectively conducted without jeopardizing the ceasefire between the government and the MILF”.
In relation with this, the MILF CC asked GPH to act most immediately on four points:
- 1. Urgently UNDERTAKE an impartial, honest, credible, and fair fact-finding. investigation by a third-party investigator;
- 2. Sanction the IMMEDIATE RETURN of the INTERNATIONAL MONITORING TEAM to ensure that ceasefire is preserved;
- 3. GENUINELY AND SINCERELY IMPLEMENT all aspects of the Normalization process; and
- 4. Immediately CONVENE (within July 2023) the Joint Peace Implementing
- 5. Panels of the GPH and the MILF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in keeping with the signed agreements, and towards efforts of resolving diverging views on some aspects of implementation. (underscoring supplied)
The MILF CC convened a Special Meeting in Camp Darapanan, Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte, in response to the incident.
Copies of the resolution were to be furnished to the Office of the President (OP), Department of National Defense (DND), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) for them to take appropriate action.
The MILF leadership through the resolution said the “absence of coordination by law enforcement agencies in relation to this tragedy is a gross violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermines the primacy of the peace process”.
It cited Item B (4) of the Annex on Normalization the GPH and the MILF signed, which says,
“(T)he International Monitoring Team (IMT), the GPH and MILF Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Groups (AHJAGs), including the ceasefire Local Monitoring Teams and the AHJAG Team Sites, will continue to perform their functions, The Parties agree to undertake periodic review of these mechanisms to determine their transition into their appropriate mechanisms in the normalization process.”
On June 20, Members of Parliament (MPs) Baileng S. Mantawil and Atty. Mary Ann Arnado called for the return of the IMT to prevent the repetition of the incident in Datu Paglas and avoid such incidents from escalating.
“We really need to revisit, evaluate, and strengthen existing peace mechanisms in the light of the senseless death of the 7 MILF members who were killed during the raid,” Arnado said.
“It is publicly known and acknowledged that the authorities need to coordinate with AHJAG (Ad Hoc Joint Action Group) in the interdiction of lawless elements with MILF areas to avoid bloodshed like what happened in Datu Paglas,” she added.
Ebrahim and Maslamama are officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Chief Minister and Senior Minister, respectively. — (EDD K. USMAN) (✓)
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Update: search warrants instead of warrants of arrest.