President Duterte said over the weekend that Moro National Liberation Front Chairman Nur Misuari remains ambivalent and is not ready to commit to peace talks.
The Chief Executive also said that Misuari has lost control over young Moros in the South. “Si Nur Misuari is ambivalent siya. Ang tingin ko si Nur will not commit now,” Duterte said in his remarks during a visit to the Army 5th Infantry Division in Camp Melchor dela Cruz, Gamu, Isabela.
“He’s consolidating the forces but he has lost control of the young men of the Moro generation,” the President continued.
In an effort to bring lasting peace in Mindanao, Duterte has reached out to Misuari and even ordered government security forces not the arrest the 77-year-old fugitive MNLF leader if he comes out.
Misuari has a standing warrant of arrest in connection with the 2013 bloody Zamboanga City siege. But instead of implementing his arrest, the President has given instructions to the troops to escort the MNLF leader to where he is in a bid to pursue a peaceful settlement with the Muslim secessionist groups in Mindanao. (Elena L. Aben)
