Nur Misuari: An Authorized Biography by Tom Stern

Author:Tom Stern [Stern, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789712726682
Google: QjDdMwEACAAJ
Goodreads: 55666657
Publisher: Published and exclusively distributed by Anvil Pub.
Published: 2012-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

In early 1995, small group meetings between MNLF and government panels continued to hammer out details. Suddenly, on April 4, fifty heavily armed men with guns blazing invaded the city of Ipil, near Zamboanga. They robbed five banks, burned buildings, and caused alarming civilian casualties. Intial reports claimed the attackers were Misuari’s men, an obviously serious violation of the Ceasefire Agreement. In Saudi Arabia, Misuari got his own intelligence, which indicated no MNLF involvement whatsoever. He went on television live to condemn the perpetrators of the raid, and the following day issued an official press statement:

The MNLF deplores in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence and atrocities committed by the perpetrators. These are handiworks of saboteurs who insist on violence as the only course for change. We join our partners in peace, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines under the leadership of His Excellency, President Fidel V. Ramos, and the peace loving humanity in condemning the perpetrators of these acts of violence. (Misuari, Nur. Press release, April 5, 1995)

Any suspicions harbored by President Ramos that Misuari was behind the Ipil attack were dispelled when Misuari pointed out that the list of names of MNLF suspects included invalids confined to bed, or men who no longer lived in the Philippines, or members definitely were out of the country at the time.

A political life holds many surprises. When meetings resumed, the government astonished Misuari by offering that he become Ramos’s candidate for Governor of ARMM, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao established by Corazon Aquino’s Constitution. Not many months earlier, Misuari had demanded that all references to ARMM and the law establishing it be stricken from records of the Peace Talks. Misuari for Governor of ARMM? Ramos’s theory was that by making Misuari take power as Governor, there would be no need to set up another provisional government, nor to labor over interminable talks about what to do with the constitutionally mandated ARMM. It would be clean and elegant—Misuari would simply step in. Up to that moment, perhaps no one had ever thought of such an idea, and it took Misuari by surprise.

Experienced in meetings, Misuari quickly responded that the proposal to accept ARMM, which he had always railed against, and abruptly become its Governor was very sensitive and implied that he was giving in or capitulating to Ramos. “It might wreak havoc in the MNLF leadership,” Misuari told them. “We really need time to consult with our leaders.” The sea-change reminded him of a similar seismic shift in 1976, when, “We accepted the OIC Resolution changing our objective from Independence to Autonomy. That led to the division with Hashim Salamat. We almost lost the whole of Mindanao.”

But there was no time to spare, with elections just around the corner. If Misuari rejected this opportunity to take ARMM, it would be three years before the next election, and peace would shimmer, mirage-like, at the end of a very tortuous road. If Misuari grasped ARMM, peace lay at hand.

Executive

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