MNLF transformation program

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has certainly gone a long way since Professor Nur Misuari decided to leave behind the academic community in the 1970s to form the group that would wage a decades-long armed struggle.

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The turning point came when the Government of the Philippines and the MNLF, as represented by the late Ambassador Manuel Yan and MNLF Founding Chairman Prof. Misuari, respectively, inked the 1996 Final Peace Agreement that would end the conflict and usher in an era of peace.

In honor of this historic GPHMNLF peace deal that would lead to the signing of two more major Bangsamoro peace accords, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has demonstrated his commitment to sustain the legacy of peace left behind by the late President Fidel V. Ramos.

It can also be recalled that the President’s father, former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., began the peace process with the MNLF with the signing of the Tripoli Agreement in 1976 between the Philippine government and the revolutionary organization.

This is perhaps the reason why President Marcos Jr. has put the peace processes with the Moro groups at the center of his peace agenda by ensuring that they do not only benefit but more importantly, are part of the peacebuilding process. He has come full circle.

The MNLF Transformation Program, which is being implemented by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, aims to ensure that the dividends of peace will be enjoyed by MNLF members, their families and communities.

Last June 24, we flew to the island-province of Sulu to witness the launching of the socioeconomic profiling process for MNLF combatants, which would qualify them to receive essential government assistance under the Transformation Program.