ZAMBOANGA CITY, 17 December 2006 — The Philippine government has said it has no hand in the plan of detained Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebel leader Nur Misuari to run for governor in the southern province of Sulu next year.
A local court allowed Misuari to go to his hometown in Jolo Island on Thursday to register as a voter so that he could qualify as a candidate for any position at stake in the May 14 elections.
Jamasali Abdurahman, an aide of the former university professor, confirmed Misuari’s plan to seek public office.
Secretary Jesus Dureza, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s peace adviser, said all the government did was to facilitate Misuari’s trip to Jolo so that he could register. “We are not privy to or involved in Chairman Misuari’s future political plans. Our participation was only to uphold and ensure the exercise of his right to suffrage,” Dureza said.
He said Misuari previously requested to register at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) central office in Manila, but poll officials said he should register instead in Jolo where he resides.
Some supporters of the MNLF chieftain said the government could be behind Misuari’s political ambition to influence or persuade Muslims to support Arroyo in Jolo, a known opposition stronghold. Authorities did not allow Misuari to speak to reporters.
Security was tight in Zamboanga City and Jolo during Misuari’s brief stay. He immediately returned to Manila after registering and meeting some friends in his hometown.
Although Misuari has still a few hundred supporters in Jolo, his popularity is fast diminishing among the locals. They said Misuari failed to bring developments on the island and uplift the poor living standards of Muslims in Mindanao when he was governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Sulu is one of the provinces under the ARMM, the others being Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan, plus the city of Marawi.
Misuari was elected governor of the ARMM in 1997, months after his group signed a peace agreement with the Ramos government on Sept. 2, 1996.
In 2001, however, he refused to seek re-election when the Arroyo administration refused to extend his term of office. In November of that year, his followers in Jolo staged a deadly uprising, after which he fled to Malaysia when government troops quelled the rebellion.
Malaysian authorities arrested him and deported him to the Philippines, where he is now on trial for rebellion.
