Duterte says he's in a hurry to strike a deal with Misuari
President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday that he was in a rush to reach a deal with Nur Misuari, founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front ( MNLF).
Recently, Duterte said in his meeting with Misuari, the latter warned of going into war again if government's shift to federalism fails.
"I am in a hurry to strike a deal with Nur Misuari," Duterte said in a speech in Koronadal City during the campaign rally of the senatorial bets of the ruling PDP-Laban.
The administration of then President Fidel Ramos forged a final peace agreement with Misuari's group in 1996 to end its rebellion in Mindanao.
This led to the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which Misuari first headed. But his administration was marred with alleged corruption.
While the Ramos administration forged a deal with the MNLF, the government was facing a battle with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the breakaway group of the MNLF.
The administration of then President Benigno Aquino III inked a peace deal with the MILF led by Al Haj Murad Ebrahim in 2014.
As part of the deal, the Bangsamoro Organic Law was passed under the Duterte administration and recently, a new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which replaced ARMM, was established.
BARMM is being led by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority led by Murad, the interim chief minister.
"The BOL is satisfactory according to Murad, as it is. So long as it is implemented correctly," Duterte said.
Duterte is set to attend the inauguration of the BARMM in Cotabato City on March 29.
"As to Misuari, we have to deal with him again. And I hope that we could find the space, the time, and the issues that would be more acceptable to everybody, to both the Lumads, the Christian, and the Moro," he said. Celerina Monte/DMS
