COTABATO CITY – Ghazali Jaafar, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front first vice chairperson for political affairs and chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, succumbed to a lingering illness at the Metro Davao Medical and Research Center in Davao City yesterday. He was 75.
Speaking over a local radio station, Prof. Raby Angkal, the family spokesperson, said the remains of the Moro revolutionary leader will be brought home to Sitio Tapuken, Barangay Pigcalagan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, where he will be buried in Muslim rites.
According to the Davao City police, Jafaar’s body was claimed by his family around 3:45 a.m.
“We, the family, feel sad but in a way happy that the vice chairman Jaafar has fulfilled his legacy of helping set up the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao prior to his death,” Angkal said.
He said Jaafar has not been feeling well lately, following his recent heart bypass operation in a hospital in Metro Manila. “Since then, he has been in and out of the hospital,” Angkal said.
Jaafar last year said he had angioplasty, a procedure that improves blood flow to the heart. He suffered complications in the abdomen after, leading to frequent returns to the hospital for check-ups and confinement.
In an interview with ANC earlier this week, MILF chairman and BARMM chief minister Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim said that Jaafar complained of abdominal pain and was confined to an Intensive Care Unit.
Murad said Jaafar was diagnosed with a kidney problem and toxins had spread in his body yesterday.
According to Dr. Angela Tan, attending physician, Jaafar was admitted at the hospital last Monday until he died from shock multifactorial (colon cancer) at around 1:40 a.m.
The entire MILF organization led by Murad is expected to attend the burial ceremony for Jaafar in his farm in Barangay Pigcalagan.
Malacañang yesterday expressed its condolences to the family and friends of Jaafar.
“Our deep thoughts and sincere prayers to Mr. Ghazali Jaafar who died early morning today, March 13, 2019,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said, describing the late MILF leader as a “warrior of peace.”
“The Palace takes this opportunity to send our heartfelt condolences to the family members and friends of Mr. Jaafar. He has fought many battles for peace and may Allah grant him a place in Jannah (Paradise),” he added.
The Philippine National Police also condoled with the family of Jaafar.
“The Philippine National Police joins the Filipino nation in mourning over the passing of Chairman Ghazali Jaafar of the Bangsamoro Transition Committee,” said Senior Supt. Bernard Banac, PNP spokesperson.
From being a “worthy adversary” as a militant to finally becoming a “peace partner,” Banac underscored that Jafaar “shared the PNP’s aspirations for a genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao.”
“By reaching out the magnanimous hand of friendship and peace, Chairman Jaafar sought to make the peace process work thru the newly-ratified Bangsamoro Organic Law,” Banac stated.
“On behalf of the PNP high command, we express our deepest condolences to the bereaved family of Chairman Jaafar and his colleagues in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority,” he concluded.
Presidential peace adviser Carlito G. Galvez Jr. said the men and women of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process mourn the passing of Jaafar.
“We would like to convey our deepest sympathies and condolences to the bereaved family and relatives of Jaafar,” Galvez said.
“A great Moro leader, Jaafar, the first vice chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, showed us his determination in leading the Moro people through the passage and eventual ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.”
“We will never forget that despite his health condition, Jaafar went the extra mile to join several campaign rallies to push for the realization of the Moro people’s aspiration for a genuine and meaningful autonomy,” Galvez added.
The BARMM is the result of the decades-old comprehensive peace processes between the government and the MILF, with its establishment only realized under the administration of President Duterte.
It is a new and more empowered regional government that replaced the old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao setup. (PNA, Argyll Geducos, Martin Sadongdong, Ali Macabalang, and Francis Wakefield)