COTABATO CITY, Philippines โ Officials of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) are calling on lawmakers to pass enabling legislation that would return Sulu to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
MNLF central committee chair and Bangsamoro Labor Minister Muslimin Sema said the Supreme Courtโs removal of Sulu from the regionโs core territory has serious implications for the governmentโs peace deals with both the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The high court’s decision stemmed from a petition filed by Sulu Governor Abdusakur Mahail Tan, who opposed the provinceโs inclusion in the Bangsamoro region.
โSulu is an integral component of the collective aspiration of the Moro people in southern Philippines for peace and progress through self-governance,โ Sema told reporters on Thursday, June 5.
Sema said Sulu was the cradle of the Moro struggle for self-rule and the heart of the secessionist conflict in the 1970s.
โWe must not forget that the MNLF initially fought for independence but agreed to autonomy. Now, Sulu has been taken out of the Bangsamoro region,โ he said.
Sema and other MNLF leaders โ including Bangsamoro Parliament members Uttoh Salem Cutan, Faisal Karon, and Adzfar Usman, as well as BARMM Trade Minister Abu Amri Tadik โ met on June 1 in Patikul, Sulu, and agreed to lobby Congress for Suluโs reintegration into BARMM.
The Supreme Court ruling, issued in late 2024, was a blow to many MNLF members, especially elderly fighters who took up arms during the height of the Moro rebellion in the 1970s.
The MNLFโs demand for autonomy over 13 Mindanao provinces was first formalized in the 1976 Tripoli Agreement with the administration of then-president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The deal, brokered by Libya under the Organization of the Islamic Conference (now Cooperation), became a cornerstone for future peace agreements โ including the 1996 final peace pact between the government and MNLF, and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the government and MILF.
These efforts culminated in the 2019 creation of BARMM, replacing the older Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
โIt is painful for us to see Sulu taken out of the Bangsamoro territory,โ said Usman.
Karon expressed hope that Congress would act on their appeal.
โThis is for peace and justice for all who perished in our struggle for self-rule from the 1970s to the 1980s,โ said Karon, who joined the MNLF as a teenager and fought in battles in what is now Sultan Kudarat province.
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