By Jerry N Adlaw/Manila Times

An official of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) said yesterday the group could join forces with its breakaway faction, in waging war with the government if the Aquino administration continues to ignore the 1996 peace agreement the MNLF.

Ustadz Pendi Colano, chairman of the Selatan Kutawato State Revolutionary Committee (SKSRC), a faction of the MNLF in central Mindanao, aired the warning a day after government troops fought with rebels from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) led by Ameril Umbrakato in Maguindanao.

Colano said if President Benigno Aquino really wanted peace in Mindanao, he should not be the first to violate the pact signed by the MNLF and the government on September 2, 1996.

Colano described the signing of the Comprehensive Bangsamoro Agreement in 2012 as a “blundering misstep” of the Aquino administration.

“Instead of peace reigning in Mindanao, there is more disorder and confusion because the situation is getting more complicated,” Colano told Manila Times.

He said the signing a peace deal with the MILF confirmed that the Aquino government had turned its back on the MNLF.

Colano added that the uncertainty in scheduling the tripartite meeting between the government and MNLF is part of the delaying tactics of the president who has made the Bangsamoro pact his priority.

“The review of the agreement with the MILF was rushed and there was no consultation with the people in Mindanao. In fact, Mindanaoans have no idea of the contents of that agreement,” he said.

Colano said there is no guarantee the agreement with the MILF will be honoured by the next president who may have a different agenda.

He said the MNLF may be forced to link up with Umbrakato’s BIFF.

Clashes in Maguindanao between the BIFF, which is also opposed to the Bangsamoro agreement, and the military in the past days have left nearly 38 BIFF members dead.

Colano said 60% of the 70,000 members of the MNLF across the southern Philippines are ready to declare war on the government if the 1996 agreement is scuttled.

“For the meantime, we have been asking our state chairmen and commanders on the ground to stretch their patience… but if these MNLF commanders can no longer hold their patience, we cannot guarantee that they will not go against the provocative actions of President Aquino for setting aside the 1996 peace accord,” he said.

During the recent MNLF consultative forum held in Kabacan in north Cotabato, Jimmy Labawan, the MNLF vice chairman, said his group does not want to go to war but that the MNLF “reserves the right to fight for freedom as the need arises.”

Labawan said it is impossible to “integrate” the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement with the MNLF pact.

“We can only discuss the merging of both agreements after the coming 5th Tripartite Review Implementation Process but for the meantime, we strongly reject the proposed integration of both agreements,” he said.

President Aquino yesterday belittled attempts of peace “spoilers” such as the BIFF and the Abu Sayyaf to derail the expected conclusion of the peace process with the MILF.

Contrary to an earlier pronouncement by a Malacanang spokesman that the firefight in Maguindanao was triggered by government troops’ attempt to serve warrants of arrest on some individuals affiliated with the armed group, President Aquino said soldiers only countered attacks by the enemy.

“I understand that the current operations are due to the fact that they (BIFF) were engaging in harassment activities situated along the banks of the Pulangi River . . . sniping attacks and so on,” he explained.

He said even the Abu Sayyaf is against the peace pact because “they benefit from the status quo.”