COTABATO CITY, Philippines — More than 20,000 members and supporters of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) converged in the historic Barrio Kakar here on Saturday and together assured to continue patronizing their Sept. 2,1996 final peace compact with the national government.
The plains in Barrio Kakar in east of this city was the scene of the bloodiest battles in Central M indanao’s history, from 1972 to 1974, between soldiers and young MNLF recruits then fighting for self-rule by southern Moro communities.
The large gathering of MNLF members and supporters from Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, was capped off with their having pledged allegiance to their newly-organized political bloc, the Bangsamoro Party, led by Bangsamoro Labor and Employment Minister Muslimin Sema, chairman of the front’s central committee.
The Bangsamoro Party, also known as the “Bapa Party,” has been registered with the Commission on Elections.
Saturday’s event at Barrio Kakar was graced by senior MNLF officials from the six provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, among them five members of BARMM’s 80-seat parliament, Hatimil Hassan and Muslimin Jakilan, both ethnic Yakans from Basilan, Abuamri Taddik, who is concurrent regional trade and investment minister, and Adzfar Usman, who are from Sulu, and Romeo Sema, a Maguindanaon.
A large group of women identified with the MNLF, led by Bainon Karon, who had served as secretary of one of the regional departments of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, also participated in the activity.
Sema, appointed about two years ago as regional labor and employment minister by BARMM’s top official, Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, who is chairman of the central committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said the MNLF has been adhering religiously to its Sept. 2, 1996 peace compact w ith the national government.
“Never shall we turn our backs from our final peace agreement with the national government. We will even make that agreement become strong through sensible, peaceful political activities now that we have the Bangsamoro Party,” Sema, chairman of the MNLF’s central committee, said.
MNLF leaders present in the gathering in Barrio Kakar together promised to continue nurturing the gains of their truce with Malacañang, a product of 20 years of peace talks that started with the crafting by rebel and government negotiators of the Dec. 23, 1976 “Tripoli Agreement” in Libya that was to become a major reference in its negotiations with the national government.
The Tripoli Agreement was also used as part of the framework for the negotiations between Malacañang and the MILF, sealed with the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro that resulted in the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a more politically and administratively empowered BARMM via a plebiscite in 2019.
MANILA, Philippines — The National University Bulldogs flexed their muscles and swept the University of Santo Tomas Golden Spikers, 25-17, 26-24, 25-19, in Game 1 of the best-of-three UAAP Season 86 men’s volleyball finals Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
They are now within a win away from their fourth straight championship.
Nico Almendras and Buds Buddin carried the load for NU with 16 points each. The former had 19 excellent receptions, while the latter had nine.
Owa Retamar facilitated the offense with 24 excellent sets.
The Golden Spikers tried to mount a comeback after the huge second set loss, keeping in step with their opponents and tying the third set up at 11.
However, the Bulldogs started to heat up as they slowly pulled away.
The lead grew to as much as seven points, 23-16, after a block by Retamar on Gboy de Vega.
UST attempted to claw back, but a drop ball by Almendras ended the set and the match.
This is NU’s first win over UST this season.
Josh Ybanez had 11 points in the losing effort for UST. Paul Colinares and Sherwin Umandal chipped in nine apiece.
The Bulldogs’ blocking stopped UST’s usual offensive explosions as the team recorded 12 block points.
The Sampaloc-based squad will try to clinch their four peat on Wednesday, 2 p.m., at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.