Moro National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari is not a threat to the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Palace said Thursday after initial tallies of votes cast in a plebiscite showed strong support for the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
“He’s not really a threat. [The President] considers Nur Misuari as someone… [who] can help end the conflict in Mindanao,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.
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“Nur Misuari has mentioned [that] he has certain ideas. I also talked to him and he said, ‘There are many ideas that I can contribute for the peace, prosperity, and progress of Mindanao that’s why I like to talk with the President’,” Panelo said, adding that Duterte was open to meeting with the Muslim leader.
The MNLF had opposed the ratification of the BOL in the recently concluded plebiscite.
Duterte has expressed satisfaction at the plebiscite results, despite the victory of the “no” votes in Sulu.
“I’m very happy. We are a step nearer to a peaceful Mindanao,” he told Palace reporters on Wednesday.
However, he said he needed to hear Misuari’s suggestions for the peace process and consider the sentiments of the people of Sulu.
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“Now, I have to shift my attention or focus to Misuari. Misuari is really after territoriality because they were the first in Jolo and Zamboanga. We have to refocus on the western side because of Misuari.
Misuari must also have something there,” he said.
“Sulu voted ‘no.’ That’s something that I have to take into account. Otherwise, they will tell me that I’m ignoring their sentiment,” the President said.
Under the law, the BOL abolishes the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and will create a new BARMM in its place.
The BARMM territorial jurisdiction includes the original ARMM provinces such as Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, and Sulu; six towns in Lanao del Norte; 39 barangays in North Cotabato; Cotabato City, and Isabela City in Basilan.
In Cotabato City, Mayor Francis Cynthia Guiani said she planned to file a formal protest of the vote in her city, saying harassment and threats of violence were behind the victory of the “yes” vote.
“This is not reflective of the true will of the people of Cotabato City,” she said in a TV interview. “Even on the outset, the teachers of Cotabato City were receiving death threats through text messages… That is why many teachers did not report to the polling places during the plebiscite and they were substituted by people who are not residents of Cotabato City and who are not even voters of Cotabato City.”
The mayor reported a sudden influx of “outsiders” in Cotabato City during the day of the plebiscite. “These were not just by the hundreds,” she said. “Christian voters who tried to enter the polling areas were told to leave. We even caught teachers writing ‘yes’ on the ballots of the voters.”
In Manila, the Commission on Elections en banc, put the canvassing of votes for Cotabato City on hold, as Commissioner Luie Guia questioned the discrepancies in the certificates of canvass submitted to the poll body.
Records of the Cotabato City Plebiscite Board of Canvassers showed there were a total of 36,682 “yes” votes and 24,994 “no votes” for a total of 61,676, but the certificate of canvass submitted to the National Board of Canvassers listed the total number of votes at only 39,027.
The Comelec says Cotabato has a total of 113,751 registered voters.
In most parts of the ARMM, the “yes” votes dominated.
In Maguindanao, the total was 599,581 for “yes” and only 9,096 for “no.” In Lanao del Sur, it was 503,420 for “yes” and only 9,735 for “no.” In Basilan, “yes” votes totaled 147,598 to only 6,496 “no” votes. In Tawi-Tawi, the tally was 151,788 “yes” and 9,907 “no.”
The margin in Cotabato City was much narrower, with 36,682 “yes” votes and 24,994 “no” votes—but the results have yet to be verified amid questions being raised about discrepancies in the certificates of canvass.
Sulu province, which is also in the ARMM, rejected the BOL with 163,526 “no” votes to 137,630 “yes” votes. Isabela City and Basilan also voted against inclusion in the BARMM.
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