MILF, MNLF, gov’t forces clash under friendlier circumstances

BULUAN, Maguindanao – Former combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), as well as elements of the police and military, will have the chance to slug it out anew next month.

But, this time, in friendlier and more peaceful circumstances.

This was bared by organizers of Maguindanao’s Second Inaul Festival, which will be staged next month.

The organizers said they have already obtained confirmation from MILF and MNLF officials for the participation of their contingent in the “Kaguyang na Awang,” or a paddled boat race on Lake Buluan on February 13, the eve of the opening of the weeklong festival.

Lake Buluan is a fisheries and aquatic resources-rich freshwater body on the border of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato provinces where combined state armed forces fought Moro combatants in fierce wars in the past.

Guns only fell silent after the MNLF and MILF inked peace accords with the government in 1997 and 2014, respectively.

“This (banca race) will be spectacular because we will witness former enemies slugging it out this time in a peaceful fashion,” Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, festival leadorganizer, told reporters.

In last year’s first episode of the festival, MILF contingents joined the banca race segment but opted not to be tagged openly as sort of experiment, festival fellow organizer Lynette Estandarte said.

This time, she said, the two Moro fronts are agreeable for official representation “ostensibly in pursuit” of the Duterte government’s push for the legislation of a law providing an “inclusive” new autonomy for the Bangsamoro.

Mangudadatu said at a recent meeting here they would want wider participation from as many sectors as possible, locally and abroad, this time “to ensure extensive promotion of the bright side of Maguindanao, its colorful cultures and traditions as well as peace and growth gains in the past decade.”

“We will welcome warmly all participants, visitors and spectators as long as they come for peace,” he said.