COTABATO CITY, 16 August - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday welcomed the wide rejection of a law expanding the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and asked the government to consider another option.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said this option is to call for a referendum in which the Bangsamoro people and other native inhabitants of areas in Mindanao that are dominated by Muslims will be asked whether they want to remain in the present setup, autonomy, a federal system of government, or independence.
Such a referendum would be fair enough, Kabalu said, provided it is held under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) or at least through the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Commenting on the apparent rejection of the ARMM's expansion in many of the areas covered by Tuesday's vote, the separatist spokesman said: "It's a blessing in disguise."
He said "the message is crystal clear that the people of Mindanao reject autonomy as a solution to the Mindanao problem."
The MILF had boycotted the plebiscite on the measure expand the coverage of the ARMM, which is currently composed of the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited Mindanao recently to promote the plebiscite and expressed hope that the predominantly Muslim cities of Marawi and Cotabato would at least be included in ARMM.
But according to the National Movement for Free Elections, only Marawi cast a majority "yes" vote.
Kabalu said the autonomous setup had already been tested from the time of then President Marcos and institutionalized by President Corazon Aquino and followed through by his successor President Fidel Ramos, Kabalu said.
Instead of resolving the Mindanao conflict, he said, it only complicated matters.
Kabalu said the greater obstacle is "the government's refusal to deal with the real issue that had long been identified, which is the right of the Bangsamoro and other native inhabitants of Mindanao "to self-determination."
He said the government should resolve the Mindanao issue once and for all with a wider referendum giving the people a multiple choice.
"This formula is fair enough, unlike the just concluded plebiscite wherein the people have been given no other alternative except to say 'yes"' or 'no,' he said.
Moreover, the approach is democratic and internationally accepted in the settlement of a political issues and problem, Kabalu said.
The MILF refused to get involved in the just concluded plebiscite, saying it was not a party to the 1996 peace agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which provided for the exercise.
Even MNLF chair Nur Misuari, however, has refused to participate in the recent plebiscite.
