MNLF hits OPAPP, denies it has hand in peace process with MILF

by Alexander D. Lopez
Publish in Mb.com

Davao City — The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) – Misuari faction once again reiterated its stand for independence in Mindanao and lashed at the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Peace Process (OPAPP) for using former MNLF members who had already surrendered to the government to drum up support for the current peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

MNLF spokesperson Atty. Emmanuel Fontanilla, in an exclusive interview with the Manila Bulletin here Saturday, charged that OPAPP has been utilizing their former members to come out and declare that the MNLF was supporting the entire process.

“What the OPAPP is doing now worries us because they are using these MNLF members who had already surrendered to the government in their consultations to make it appear that the organization (MNLF) is supporting the peace process with the MILF and the BBL,” Fontanilla pointed out.

Fontanilla said MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari has made it clear that the organization has nothing to do with the present peace process with the MILF.

“The chairman said that we are not participating with the present peace process and our agenda still remains – and that is for independence through peaceful process,” he added.

Fontanilla called on OPAPP not to include them in the present process and stop using former MNLF members just to serve the government’s interest.

He told the Manila Bulletin here that they were able to monitor a group of former MNLF members who were brought by OPAPP to Manila to consult with them on the present peace process and the BBL.

“This is a kind of modus operandi to legitimize what they are doing,” Fontanilla said.

He said they monitored these between the last weeks of September until the first week of October this year.

“We have already showed our pursuit for independence in Zamboanga. That was supposed to be a peaceful gathering to call for independence. It was the military and the government who started the violence,” Fontanilla stressed.

The spokesperson was referring to the infamous Zamboanga siege in September last year where civilians, military, police and MNLF members were killed and displaced over 100,000 residents in the street battles that lasted three weeks.

“We are not recognizing their process now and we will not, in any way, participate”, he emphasized.

Source:http://www.mb.com.ph/mnlf-hits-opapp-denies-it-has-hand-in-peace-process-with-milf/