Misuari a victim of history's shifting tides

Misuari a victim of history's shifting tides

Amando Doronila, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia News Network,
Manila

The arrest of Nur Misuari in Malaysia puts an ironic touch to
the end of his career as a leader of the Muslim separatist
movement in southern Philippines.

Misuari was arrested in Sabah after he fled Jolo following a
failed rebellion by his faction of the Moro National Liberation
Front (MNLF) in a bid to postpone the election for officials of
the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

A testimony to the eclipse of Misuari is that in the 1970s --
during which his MNLF staged a rebellion against the Marcos
martial law regime -- Sabah, with the tolerance of Malaysia, was
the sanctuary of the Moro rebels and the funnel through which
arms were shipped to them in Mindanao.

Also Sabah was once ruled by the Sultanate of Sulu until the
British took possession of the present British North Borneo
through a controversial deal with the sultanate, through which it
was supposed to have "ceded" the territory to the British East
India Co.

The territory was transferred to Malaysia after it was granted
independence by Britain in the 1960s. Tens of thousands of
Filipinos live in Sabah, which is only a few hours by speed boat
from Jolo, who consider Sabah a part of their homeland.

Since Spanish times, trade has flourished between the Sulu
archipelago and Sabah and movement of traders between them was
relatively easy and unrestricted.

It is therefore a measure of Misuari's isolation that the
government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad has arrested him
and is considering the request of the Philippine government to
hold him longer in Malaysia, while it sorts out the election in
ARMM and other Muslim insurgences in Mindanao.

Up until recently, it was inconceivable that fugitive Muslims
seeking sanctuary in Malaysia would be arrested.

It is a sign of the improved relations between Malaysia and
the Philippines, following the visit to Kuala Lumpur of President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, which set the two nations on a mood of
cooperation to curb cross-border piracy and hostage taking; as
well as to resume closer economic relations in the development of
the East Asia economic development zone linking the Philippines,
Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

Misuari's rebellion last week has been crushed by the Armed
Forces. It was his last bid to reverse the slippage of power from
his hands as a Muslim leader of consequence.

Prior to the rebellion, Misuari had been ousted as chair of
the MNLF by the Council of 15, a rival faction. The Council has
fielded Dr. Farouk Hussin as governor of the ARMM, who is backed
by the Arroyo administration.

At its peak of more than 20,000 warriors, the MNLF fought the
Marcos regime for more than 10 years until Misuari was persuaded
by the Organization of Islamic Countries to moderate his
separatist goal and accept an autonomous arrangement within the
republic.

This autonomous concept bore fruit, after arduous
negotiations, in 1996 when the Ramos administration signed a
peace agreement with the MNLF leading to the creation of the ARMM
and to the takeover of its leadership by Misuari.

Misuari was coopted into the ARMM which was envisaged to be
the political structure that would govern the four predominantly
Muslim provinces of Mindanao and through which economic
development aid would be funneled from the central government to
develop these provinces -- this time under Muslim (Misuari's)
leadership.

Misuari's administration was marred by charges that the
economic aid worth 4.8 billion pesos was dissipated and Misuari
had nothing to show in benefits for the region during his
governorship.

The failure of Misuari to use this assistance to improve the
living conditions and the economy of the ARMM, the poorest in the
country, eroded Muslim confidence in this experiment and fanned
the rise of the Islamic fundamentalist movement led by the Muslim
Islamic Liberation Front.

The MILF grabbed from Misuari the torch of separatism. By the
1990s, the MILF was in the forefront of rebellion, which had a
brief spell of calming down during the peace negotiations with
the Ramos administration but which resumed into war following
President Estrada's all-out war on the MILF.

Misuari brought about his own downfall. He spent more time
outside of the ARMM, traveling overseas or in Manila where he
surrounded himself with a retinue reminiscent of the royal court
of the Sulu sultanate and of the pomp and circumstance of the
datus of Mindanao.

Misuari sprang from a poor family but he received an excellent
education at the University of the Philippines. But power
intoxicated him to imitate the pomp of the Muslim aristocracy. He
was a good warrior but a poor administrator.

Many Islamic states had promised to lavish aid to the ARMM,
but aid did not flow to the region after Misuari failed to show
he could use it to develop the region.

Prime Minister Mahathir was one of those Islamic leaders
disenchanted with Misuari. He said, "Autonomy has been accorded
but unfortunately, when in power, they did not use their power
for the development of southern Philippines -- Not much has been
done for the benefit of the people. So therefore, we no longer
feel responsible to provide him with any assistance."

The flight of Misuari consolidates the MILF's leadership of
the Muslim separatist/autonomy movement. MILF spokesperson Eid
Kabalu said Misuari was "stupid" in fleeing to Malaysia when he
knew Mahathir was hostile to him.

Even during the hostage taking by the Abu Sayyaf, Misuari had
been marginalized. Efforts to make him a mediator on the release
of hostages from Sipadan failed because the Abu Sayyaf spurned
his mediation.

The Abu Sayyaf rejection was a bitter pill for Misuari. The
Abu Sayyaf and the MNLF are based in Jolo, home of the warrior
Tausogs. Both have the same ethnic base and the center of the
rebellion in the 1970s.

The ascendancy of the MILF, whose main support comes from the
Magindanaos of central Mindanao, meant the shifting of the center
of gravity of the Islamic rebellion from the Tausog heartland of
Misuari. He now is not only a fugitive of Philippine justice (he
faces a rebellion charge); he belongs to the past.