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GENERAL SANTOS CITY: A ranking officer of the Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) has confirmed the ongoing crisis within the
organization, stressing that Chairman Nur Misuari still has the
larger following.
The leadership row was triggered by the election
in April of Cotabato City Mayor Muslimen Sema as the new MNLF
chairman by members of a faction belonging to the Council of 15, the
source said.
MNLF vice chairman Jimmy Labawan, in a phone
interview with The Manila Times, said that majority of the MNLF
Central Committee still recognizes Misuari as the legitimate
chairman.
“We have no other leader but Prof. Misuari,
whose leadership was attested by more than 50, 000 members and
supporters who turned up to last month’s peace summit in Davao
City,” Laba-wan said.
Reports said Sema’s election as the new MNLF
chairman drew opposition from members loyal to Misuari.
Labawan said a large number of field commanders
specifically in Central Mindanao have still remained to be loyal to
Misuari.
He said among the field commanders is Ustadz
Pendie Colano, chairman for Selatan Kutawato State Revolutionary
Committee which has jurisdiction over the Socsargen Area (South
Cotabato, Sarangani and Gen. Santos).
He said Colano was once a victim of character
assassination by some MNLF commanders who have turned their backs on
Misuari when the latter was still languishing in jail for rebellion
charges.
Colano, Labawan said, was among the MNLF
fighters who fought alongside with Misuari during the height of the
Moro rebellion in the 1970s.
He said the objective of the organization then
was the secession of Mindanao but upon the prodding of the
Organization of Islamic Conference the MNLF sided with government
following the Tripoli Agreement on December 23, 1976 that sought the
creation of a Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.
Labawan said Misuari’s acceptance of autonomy
has triggered a debate within the MNLF hierarchy resulting to its
division.
-- Isagani P Palma
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