President Rodrigo Duterte referred to a dead Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader who died 14 years ago as he warned about renewed desire for separatism if the peace talks fail.
“If we fail to come up with a reasonable counter proposal, then I assure you that there will be fighting everywhere in Mindanao. For then, the mainstream rebel groups would now be joining with the extremist groups,” Duterte said during the relaunch of the Palace’s New Executive Building press briefing room.
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The government is in peace talks with the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
“Now, we are on one side and Misuari has remained neutral pero some of their rogue members are there fighting. But fundamentally, they are waiting for the word of Hashim Salamat and Nur Misuari,” he added, referring to the MILF and MNLF leaders respectively.
“But if their common determination, their dream is—ends in a failure or a disappointment, magkaisa itong lahat against the Republic of the Philippines. And I have it in good authority that they will declare an independence. They would declare an independent Mindanao,” he added.
However, Salamat died back in 2003.
Duterte could have mistakenly mentioned Salamat instead of Murad Ebrahim, the current MILF chair.
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“In the meantime, I have to talk patiently with Secretary Dureza. Everytime Murad is there, Secretary is there. Everytime Nur Misuari is there with me in Davao, Secretary Dureza is also there,” Duterte said.
“But he knows deep in his heart and we fear the same challenge and that would be… I hope it would not end in a fissure na magka—mag-hiwalay ang Mindanao. Because then if there is a status of belligerence given to them, then it becomes very, very, very serious for all of us,” he added.
In reaction, Facebook user Bernard Ong’s post reacted to President Duterte’s mistake over “resurrecting” a dead MILF leader.
“According to Duterte, MILF is just ‘waiting for the word of Hashim Salamat’ to restart hostilities,” Ong said.
“Salamat was the founder of MILF. He died in July 2003, more than 14 years ago. Unless he comes crawling out of the ground, there won’t be any word from Hashim to his aging fighters,” he said.
“No correction has been made by PCOO,” he added.
Sources: ( gmanetwork.com , mindanews.com )
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