MILF won't meddle in May polls

THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) vowed Wednesday not to take part in the national and local elections in May.

Muhammad Ameen, chairperson of the MILF Secretariat, said that this policy of no participation in Philippine elections, which has been adopted since 1984 when the MILF was formally renamed as such, still up to critical examination.

“Philippine election is so divisive and expensive that after every election so much bloodshed and corrupt practices ensue,” he said, explaining that candidates spent so much money and after election, if they win, politicians have to get back their money with “interests” mostly through fraudulent ways.

Losers, on the other hand, most of the time accused their rivals as "cheaters," he added.

Ameen said the organization will not also support the relatives of the MILF leaders who have signified their interest to run for elective positions.

“Just the same we do not support them and urged them this early to quit or reconsider their running,” he said.

But he clarified that the MILF will not stop their members from participating in the elections by voting for the candidates who are not hostile to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB).

He also appealed to politicians who were against on the government-MILF peace negotiations before, especially on the botched Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), to make amends by supporting the current negotiation which is about to wind up with the looming signing of the four annexes of the FAB on power-sharing, wealth-sharing, normalization, and modalities and arrangement.(SDR/Sunnex)