Tuesday, June 03, 2008 Misuari visits grave of great Moro leader
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Nur Misuari, founder of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), visited recently the grave of one of the most important Moro leaders in Mindanao in a town in Maguindanao.
Misuari considered Datu Udtog Matalam Sr., founder of the Mindanao Independence Movement (MIM), as his "second" parent and Pagalungan, a town in Maguindanao, as his "second home."
The MIM was the first Moro-led group that launched rebellion in Mindanao against the government of then President Ferdinand Marcos.
Matalam was the first governor of the former Empire Cotabato. The "empire" was then composed of cities of Cotabato, General Santos, Tacurong, Koronadal, and provinces of Saranggani, South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and Shariff Kabunsuan.
"It was the great, great old Matalam that inspired Prof. Misuari to continue the struggle of the Bangsamoro in Mindanao," said Pagalungan Councilor Zandra Matalam Adil, who belongs to the powerful Matalam clan in Maguindanao.
Misuari visited the grave of Matalam, and his wife, Bai Tinomimbang Pendatun-Matalam, who belonged to the powerful and influential Pendatun clan in Mindanao, to pay homage to the great Moro leader in Mindanao.
"It (the visit) was a promise he (Misuari) made to himself when he was still locked in a prison cell in Luzon," said Adil.
Misuari called Datu Udtog as "ama" or father in Maguindanaon and Bai Tinomimbang as his "ina" or mother.
When he organized the MNLF in Mindanao and launched the war against the government in early '70s, he usually sought refuge in Matalam's house in Pagalungan, especially those times when he was already being hunted down by the military.
Misuari's visit to the graves of the Matalam couple came few hours after he met with thousands of his supporters in a village in Pikit, North Cotabato, a town adjacent to Pagalungan. (Malu Cadelina Manar)
