The First MNLF-OIC-GRP Tripartite Meeting
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
10-12 November, 2007

H.E. Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu,

the OIC Secretary General;

H.E. Dr. Nur Hassan Wirajuda, the Indonesian

Foreign Minister and presiding head of this Tripartite Meeting;

H.E. Atty. Nabil Tan, OPAPP-GRP Under-Secretary and head of the GRP Delegation;

H.E. Ambassador Sayed Qassim Al-Masry, OIC Special Envoy to MNLF and the Bangsamoro People;

Their Excellencies, OIC Deputy Secretary Generals and other Distinguished OIC officials present in this Opening Session of the OIC-GRP-MNLF Tripartite Meeting;

Their Excellencies, the Senior Officials and Distinguished Members of the GRP Delegation present;

Their Excellencies, the Senior Officials and Distinguished Members of the MNLF Delegation present;

Esteemed Guests and Brothers & Sisters:

At the outset and in my capacity as the Founding Leader & Central Committee Chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), I wish to convey to you all the good wishes and fraternal Islamic greetings of peace of the 20-million strong Bangsamoro people, indigenous Muslims and Highlanders alike, as well as the millions of Christian Filipino settlers from Luzon and the Visayas and the sizeable number of foreign settlers from the neighboring countries, particularly from Indonesia.

All of us, in our teeming millions, including our former adversaries in the late 1960's, the 1970's, the '80's and the 90's, specifically the notorious Ilaga and similar mass movements originally organized among Filipino settlers by the Philippine colonial government and its occupation armed forces under the aegis of the late President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, to spread a reign of terror, havoc and destruction in various parts of the Bangsamoro Homeland, speak with only one voice nowadays. And this is the voice of peace, of justice, of freedom and of respect for our people's much-abused fundamental human, constitutional and national rights.

This despite the fact that two Christian-led movements, based in northern and eastern Mindanao, respectively, are advocating the independence of our Homeland — Mindanao and its islands, including Camiguin, Palawan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Balu, Sarangani, and Samal island off the coast of Davao City in the east.

And this despite also the fact that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF, a splinter group from the mainstream Moro National Liberation Font or MNLF, is also clamoring for the independence of Mindanao and its islands.

Although, in the case of the Davao City-based independence movement, it has attached a caveat, openly declaring its intention to go full-blast only should the relentless campaign for the impeachment of President Gloria M acapagal -Arroyo, the head of the sitting government in Malacanang Palace, succeed! By and large, it's like a dangled sword of Damocle's! But then, by operation of the Philippine law and constitution, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will have to step down by year 2010.

Therefore, this Christian-led independence movement will have to face the dilemma whether or not they will have to push through with their campaign for self-determination, decolonization and independence of Mindanao and its islands.

As to the northern Mindanao-based independence movement, not much news has been heard about it of late. But the ember of their struggle is still showing, off and on, some signs of life and even defiance. It refuses to die out and wither away. At one time, though, it was a very active and optimistic movement, having organized a complete apparatus of government. With its revolutionary armed forces having, at one point at the height of its campaign, seized and occupied the 4th Infantry Division of the Philippine occupation colonial Armed Forces based in Cagayan de Oro City, the capital city of the province of Misamis Oriental.

And as to the MILF demand, it seems to us its glow is beginning to mellow and its enthusiasm for independence appears to be flagging and wavering. All because of its dramatic change of direction and abandonment of the legacy of the late Ustadz Salamat Hashim, the MILF Founding Leader & Central Committee Chairman, who was uncompromising in his demand for the establishment of an "Independent Islamic State in the Bangsamoro Homeland, even if it covers only one municipality!"

Indeed, no better manifestation of this change of heart and direction than the current peace process of the MILF with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. Curiously enough, since 1992 or '93, the Malaysian government has been brokering this peace talk between the MILF and the GRP.

And some points of agreement have been allegedly reached between them. MILF sources are even claiming that anytime before the end of this year, they will wrap up their final agreements and sign a formal peace deal.

Should that happen, then there will be a complete transformation of the political situation in the Bangsamoro Homeland. The MNLF will be thrown back to square one and left with no other possible option but to return back to their original demand for self-determination, decolonization and independence of the Bangsamoro Homeland. The much marginalized "Bangsamoro Republik", which we officially adopted in March 1968 against the backdrop of the gruesome and heinous March 18, 1966 Corregidor massacre of over 200 Bangsamoro Muslim youth, by a clandestine military forces of the Philippine government under the late President Marcos, and formally proclaimed on April 28, 1974, as a "free, sovereign and independent nation-state", will willy nilly have to be revived and rejuvenated. So that it can eventually assume its rightful place in the community of free, sovereign and independent nations of the world!

Once again, we will have to invoke our people's fundamental birthright to self-determination, decolonization and independence in accordance with the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the relevant or pertinent UN General Assembly resolutions, specifically its December 14, 1960 Resolution No. 1514 "On Decolonization".

And once we finally come up with this historic decision, then, insha'Allah, there shall be no turning back any more. We just have to continue, patiently and resolutely, whither and thither destiny may lead, biidznillah! And no matter what the price may be imposed on the MNLF and Bangsamoro people.

Certainly, we will also have to ask the OIC and its 57 Member States to search their conscience and be guided by their own Charter which includes specific provisions, a self-imposed covenant with the Mustadzafin, i.e., the downtrodden, the oppressed and colonized peoples of the world, including the 20-million or so Bangsamoro people; that proclaims to the world their solemn commitment to help in the world-wide struggle for the final de-colonization of the remnants of the colonized parts of the globe. And, too, to help the struggling Muslim people in their aspiration and struggle for their national political and human rights, recognized and respected by international law or legality and the comity of civilized nations of the world.

The Holy Qur'an, the divine and universal law or Constitution of the Islamic Ummah, is replete with exhortations and admonitions about Islamic unity and solidarity and the sacred duty to help the oppressed and the tyrannized among them. And I remember having committed to my memory a verse from the Holy Qur'an, hung conspicuously at the receiving room of the OIC Secretary General's old office, that asks the believers something like: "0 ye who believe! Why do you say that which you do not follow (or implement)? Allah will be wrathful to those who will say (or promise) but do not follow (or implement) what they say! "

I wish someone from the MNLF Delegation can recite this verse before this august assembly for its guidance. Or at the very least, for the guidance of the genuine and fastidious believers among us, particularly the OIC and MNLF delegations.

In this connection, I would also like to remind His Excellency the OIC Secretary General, in his capacity as the chief implementer of OIC policies and resolutions, that in the 1986 OIC-ICFM annual session in Faz, the old capital of the Royal Kingdom of Morocco, it was formally and unanimously decided by the Final Plenary Session that should the GRP fail in its "solemn commitment to grant genuine and meaningful political autonomy to the MNLF and the Bangsamoro people", as stipulated in the Tripoli Agreement of 1976, then the OIC and its Member States shall bind and oblige themselves to assist the MNLF leadership in bringing their people's just and legitimate demand for "Tahriri masir " or "self-determinaion", ix, decolonization and independence, of their National Homeland of Mindanao and Sulu and their former historic islands or territories to all and every appropriate international fora".

Excellencies: This is just a simple reminder.

At this juncture, I would like to make a fleeting allusion to my meeting with Datuk Othman Abd. Razak, the chief political advisor of H.E. Datuk Abdullah Badawi, the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The meeting took place at my New Manila, Quezon City, sometime ago. It was preceded by a series of breakfast meeting with my elderly wife, Hadja Eleonora "Rhuaida" Abubakar Tan, and my younger wife, Hadja Tarhata Johan Ibrahim.

In the course of our talks, I made mention to Datuk Othman the information relayed to me by some earlier visitors about the impression of a senior American Embassy official, a certain Mr. Spephen Worrobeck, who opined that: "Any peace agreement that might be entered into in Kuala Lumpur between the GRP and the MILF will be illegal!"

Mr. Worrobeck's rationale for saying so, as subsequently disclosed to Father Eliseo Mercado, Jr., the former Majority Floor-Leader of the defunct "Southern Philippine Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD)", the supposed chief implementing mechanism of the ill-fated 1996 OIC-GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement, was as follows: After revealing that he had done some researches and consulted both international and domestic lawyers, he said and quote: "It was the consensus of the these jurists or legal luminaries, and I fully agree them, that any peace agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is illegal. As it will tantamount to an imposition or super-imposition on a pre-existing international peace treaty agreement. Because any such GRP-MILF peace deal could only but involve the same people, the same territory, and the same administrative apparatus. This administrative apparatus can only a mere autonomy no different in essence and substance with that already committed in the Tripoli Agreement of December 23, 1976 and the Jakarta-Manila Final Peace Agreement of September 2, 1996 to the MNLF!"

"And besides," Mr. Worrobeck added, " these international treaty peace agreements were witnessed and guaranteed by no less than the Islamic Conference Organization and its 57 Member States in their official capacity as representatives of sovereign nation-state, and, too, as an active party to the formal negotiations and peace agreements!"

At any rate, should the GRP choose to push through with this alleged plan to sign another peace agreement with a splinter group from the MNLF, then, the MNLF Leadership will be presented with a "do or die" option, so to speak.

They will certainly have no other choice, however difficult it maybe to contemplate, let alone shoulder, than to return back to the beaten path of self-determination, decolonization and independence of the Bangsamoro people and their Homeland under the aegis of "Bangsamoro Republik".

Should this most unlikely scenario occur, even against our will and the conscience of the peace, justice and freedom loving peoples of the world, then the MNLF Leadership and their freedom fighters, despite their hard-earned reputation as among the bravest, most experienced and most tested, and, hence, among the finest warriors in the world, will continue to uphold and follow the dictum of the "civilized Islamic warfare".

That is to say, they will be guided by Allah's admonition in the hallowed pages of the Holy Qur'an that "Allah does not like the transgressor (or aggressor)!" Besides, they will also be similarly guided by the other divine admonition that warns mankind that: "Anyone one who kills any human-being without any justification is akin to the killing of the entire humanity!" On the other hand, "Anyone who saves the life of any human-being is as though he has saved the life of mankind, too."

Besides, guided by the consciousness that the religion of Islam is a religion of peace, therefore the MNLF freedom fighters, with the entire Bangsamoro behind them, will never deviate from their solemn commitment and ardent aspiration to seek peace through the most peaceful means available -- in line with the noble tradition of the civilized humanity everywhere.

We do hope that the GRP, and, too, its esteemed and honorable Peace Panel in front of us here in this Peace Hall, for that matter, will not dare commit any indiscretion that might provoke and further aggravate the already tense situation in the Bangsamoro Homeland. Otherwise, Mindanao, if not the entire Bangsamoro Homeland might be plunged headlong into another crisis situation similar, if not worse off, than we have ever gone through in the past four decades of our people's Struggle for peace, justice and freedom and the emancipation of our people and their war-torn Homeland of Mindanao and its islands from any vestiges of colonial rule and oppression and war of mass extermination and genocide.

Otherwise, we might also be compelled against our will to organize another International Tribunal and to put on trial the culprits behind the "endless campaign of repression and war of mass extermination and genocide against the Bangsamoro people", as happened when we succeeded, Alhamdulillah, to gather a host of prominent international jurists from various countries in the world — from Europe, North America, Asia and Africa, and put the late President or Dictator Marcos and his government in a "mock trial".

Marcos and his government were tried in absentia and unanimously convicted for "committing heinous crimes against the oppressed and tyrannized Bangsamoro people and humanity"!

This contributed to late Marcos' woes, even as he and his government were rabidly condemned and became isolated. Indeed, they became a virtual pariah in the world community. Something that sealed their fate in the end, Alhamdulillah.

Certainly, the MNLF and the Bangsamoro people, like in the whole history of their 4-decade war against Philippine colonialism and war of repression and extermination or genocide will never take any precipitous act, unless and until they reached the threshold of their tolerance. For they don't want to play into the hands of those whose fingers are so itchy to trigger off another round of costly and tragic war whose most likely victims will again be our innocent children, women, and other civilians.

And, besides, should the MNLF and the Bangsamoro people decide to revive their Struggle for Self-determination, decolonization and independence or join hands with their Christian brothers and sisters in the northern and eastern parts of the Bangsamoro Homeland, then they will be guided by the consciousness that the path they will take will not be anything new nor yet strange and unfamiliar to the peoples of the world.

Remember the case of the eastern province of thF Islamic Republic of Pakistan? Did not the failure of the late Prim Minister Zulfikal Ali Bhutto to meet the humble demand of the late Mujib Rahman for autonomy result in the fragmentation of the country?

Isn't this a great lesson, indeed, for the Philippines? The only good thing about ;it is that no sooner Pakistan had lost its eastern                          province,               which             became              the               present-day "People's Democratic Republic of Bangladesh" than it became a respectable member of the "Nuclear Club", along with the United States of America, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, China and India.

On the other hand, we have the case of Portugal. Portugal used to be considered, rightly or wrongly, as "the veritable Sickman" of Europe. All because of its swirling political instability. But then once it was able to get rid of its two African colonies – Mozambique in the East and Guinea Bissau in the West --following the last known military coup d' etat in Lisbon, the country has since become a model of political stability. No more military coups or even attempted ones that we can hear of.

And close to our border is the case of Malaysia and its former Singapore island at the tip of the Straits Settlement.

One day, so the story goes, Tengku Abdurahman Putra, al-Haj., the Prime Minister of the newly formed "Federation of Malaysia" (1963), called for his exceptionally brilliant Chief Minister, Lee Kuan Yu, to Kuala Lumpur.

Once seated and after the usual exchanges of courtesies and friendly banters, Lee asked pointedly: "Tengku," addressing most gently and politely the elderly Malaysian Statesman, "May I know why you called for me!"

Without much ado, the late Tengku, after fixing his eye-glasses, replied: "Well, I hope you understand that we are facing some financial shortages. I want to propose that Singapore, being economically and financially more progressive and propseorus than the other states in the Federation, should contribute something like forty percent (40%) to our national budget!"

"That is not a big problem to us," answered Lee Kuan Yu. "But then I also have a proposal of my own," he added. "Sure, we are capable of shouldering that much contribution to our Federal budget, but then would you be willing to allow us to exercise a commensurate amount of political power?"

Tengku Abdurahman was not in the mood to hear such proposition. In his reply, the Tengku suddenly blurted out, according to some sources, and said: "Better leave the Federation!"

Lee Kuan Yu stood up and bade goodbye to Tengku Abdurahman and the barely 2-year old Federation which the British government had conceived following the failure of the "1956 Suez Canal Tripartite Aggression". That led to the adoption of the "British Policy of Withdrawal East of Suez".

Now, the world bears witness to the spectacular rise of both Malaysia and Singapore into the leading tiger economies in Southeast Asia, far ahead of their neighbors in the Region in the breathtaking race into the future.

And come the latest and equally brilliant lesson in our contemporary political history. This is the case of Timor Leste or East Timor. Since it is the latest political episode in our contemporary life, that teaches rather hidebound and unthinking, if not myopic, political leadership in the world of the great wisdom in overcoming their political and economic problems, so we don't need to delve into and narrate its historical antecedents. Surely, they are still quite fresh in everybody's mind.

Suffice it to point out here that no sooner the wise former Indonesian President Habibee had succeeded to lay the groundwork for the separation of this tiny and rather impoverished portion of the larger island of Timor, a nation of less than a million people, than Indonesia is now reportedly experiencing both political and economic stability.

Our motive in making if only a passing allusion to these political developments in the Sub-continent of Asia, of Europe and Africa, as well as here in our Region of Southeast Asia, is prompted solely by desire to grope for a possible way out of our national problem or dilemma: "How best we can possibly put an end to the 6-decade or centuries long war of mass extermination and genocide in the Bangsamoro Homeland that besets and plagues the Filipino Nation nowadays."

For what we often come across in the Philippine mass media is the thoughtless and rather myopic proposition to re-divide and fragment the Bangsamoro Homeland and sow the seeds of more colonial campaigns and wars of repression and mass extermination and genocide, as happened with the unlawful usurpation and annexation on July 4, 1946 of our free, sovereign, and independent National Homeland of Mindanao and Sulu and their historic and integral territories and islands to the newly freed and independent Philippines.

We do hope that we will not be misread and misunderstood in revealing this vital information in this Tripartite Meeting. This is only a food for thought, lest we forget the bitter lessons of history. For as the sages say: "He who forgets history is bound to repeat it — often with vengeance at that!

Excellencies and Brothers and Sisters: I now conclude my opening statement before this long-waited Tripartite Meeting, with my fervent prayers to the Almighty Allah to bless and guide our efforts here with divine wisdom and infallible guidance, in the spirit of mutual trust and confidence, and, too, with the selfless resolve to put the final touches to the ultimate resolution of the Bangsamoro problem, so that when we or you leave this Great Hall of Peace, you shall be acclaimed everywhere as real peace-makers and be greeted with the powerful salutation: "Peace at last!'

Let this simple but timely message reverberate and resonate in every corner of the globe. Or at the very least, before you leave Jeddah, this famous maritime center of the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, you shall be able to tell the world and your children back home that here across this negotiating table, you had triumphantly succeeded against all odds, through your collective efforts, to plan the seeds of a new tomorrow for our National Homeland and our oppressed Bangsamoro people and their posterity!

The Philippine government, by entrusting the conduct of this preliminary Tripartite Meeting in the hands of our Muslim brothers, I mean H.E. Nabil Tan and the overwhelming majority of the GRP Delegation, has virtually placed the fate of our people, our Homeland and our future in their hands. If you fail Her Excellency in having entrusted this great and delicate mandate in your hands, you will be blamed by her and her government and the whole Filipino Nation. And so with our people back home. They might not forgive you for passing up a golden opportunity. And for that matter, the whole Islamic World will also judge you by your performance here in this Peace Hall!

Therefore, allow me to exhort you to match the enthusiasm and obsession of your brothers in the MNLF Delegation for peace, justice and freedom. Work together with utmost sense of dedication to the cause of just, genuine and enduring peace in the Bangsamoro Homeland. Certain that you are that this is the prayer and expectation of everyone back home.

Indeed, even the eyes of the entire world is also focused on you and on the outcome of this Tripartite Meeting. So don't let them down.

In conclusion, I would just like to convey my most sincere appreciation and genuine sense of gratitude to His Excellency Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, our illustrious OIC Secretary General, and the members of his Cabinet and Staff for their invaluable services to the cause of peace, justice and freedom in our Homeland. The whole MNLF Delegation and the whole Bangsamoro people back home join me this most sincere expression of our gratitude. And so, too, to the most esteemed Chairman of this Tripartite Meeting and his Staff. We also owe them a great sense of gratitude for their equally invaluable contribution to the holding of this Tripartite Meeting.

And, finally, allow me also to convey my abiding sense of gratitude, as well as, of course, of the entire 20-million Bangsamoro people and the millions of their Christian allies and supporters in every part of the Bangsamoro Homeland to the wise and brave and benevolent Monarch of the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Khadimul Haramain W'Sharifain, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al'Saud, for his great initiative and contribution to the final convening of this Tripartite Meeting, after near a decade of delay since the Doha OIC Islamic Summit Conference of Islamic Heads of State.

And, lastly, our bounteous thanks to the Almighty Allah for His Mercy, Compassion and unfailing Guidance.

W'Billahi Tawfiq W'lHidayah

Wassalamu Alaikum W'Rahmatullahi W'Barakatuh!