MANILA – Once envisioning to destroy military camps as a rebel, Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim set foot for the very first time in Camp Aguinaldo – the general headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines – unarmed and with a welcome ceremony even prepared for him.
“More than four decades ago, I walked out of university without completing my engineering degree. Many Bangsamoro colleagues did the same. Since then, I have avoided military installations and camps,” Murad said during a joint press conference with Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Carlito Galvez Jr. on Monday.
Armed Forces officials led by Galvez welcomed Murad upon his arrival at the military camp in Quezon City.
“During those times of war, I have thought only of destroying or neutralizing military camps. I never imagined during those dark days that I will one day step inside a military camp and be feted with this honor of what used to be our adversary,” he said.
The historic visit was seen as a sign of the end of decades-long hostilities between the group and the military.
“I came, I saw, I found friends, and I made peace,” he added. “I had sentiments [while I was walking along the Camp’s premises] and I felt that this [visit] is a signal from Allah that we are already in the final stage of our struggle.”
The military described Murad’s trip to the Armed Forces headquarters as a “reciprocal visit,” considering that Galvez also visited the MILF’s headquarters, Camp Darapanan, in Sultan Kudarat in October.
“I welcome MILF chair Murad and his party to our headquarters,” Galvez said. “This reciprocal visit of Chair Murad signifies the strong trust and confidence of the MILF leadership on the Armed forces and the national government.”
“I was much honored when around 6,000 men and women of the MILF lined the 5-kilometer road in Sultan Kudarat to welcome us,” Galvez added.
Murad’s visit to Camp Aguinaldo came two months before the scheduled plebiscite for the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
The BOL abolishes the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and replaces it with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, which will enjoy fiscal autonomy and governed by the Bangsamoro Parliament elected by the Bangsamoro Region’s inhabitants.
The law grants the Bangsamoro Region 5 percent of the net national internal revenue collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs as block grant, on top at least P5 billion worth of Special Development Fund for the Bangsamoro Region every year for the next 10 years starting 2019.
The BOL was a product of the peace agreement signed between the government and the MILF in March 2014.
At the time Galvez, who was retiring in 22 days, assured the public that the military will always be supportive of the peace process between the government and the MILF.
Ebrahim’s historic visit was expected to strengthen the MILF’s trust in the government and military, Colonel Noel Detoyato, AFP Public Affairs Office chief, told reporters on Sunday.
“The relationship of the MILF and the AFP has evolved for the better,” Detoyato said. “This reciprocal visit of Al Haj Murad [Ebrahim] is to cement the trust that they have on the AFP leadership and the government in general.”
Deyotayo emphasized that Galvez, being the head of the AFP Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, supports the BOL, which will be put to a plebiscite on Jan. 21 next year.
Murad’s visit is a huge step toward lasting peace, according to AFP spokesman Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo.
“We are very pleased that this is happening at this time of our history as a nation. Now that our economy is picking up and the people want to have a lasting peace,” said Arevalo.
“If only the CPP-NPA (New People’s Army-Communist Party of the Philippines) can show the same sincerity to the talks and fidelity to the peace agreements that the MILF says and does, we could have a lasting peace to bequeath to the future generation of Filipinos.” (With GMA News and Philippine News Agency/PN)
