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.