 – Awarded for his role in promoting peace and dialogue in the Southern Philippines, particularly in the Mindanao conflict1_small.png)
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Followers of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari from across Central Mindanao gathered here on Sunday, September 7, to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the government-MNLF truce and to proclaim their candidates for the Bangsamoro parliament ahead of the Oct. 13, 2025, regional elections.
The government and the MNLF signed a final peace agreement on September 2, 1996, after decades of negotiations facilitated by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a bloc of over 60 Islamic states, including major petroleum-exporting nations in the Middle East and North Africa.
Two ranking MNLF officials, lawyer Randolph Parcasio and Misuari’s daughter, Nurredha Misuari—both sitting members of the Bangsamoro parliament—told reporters at a dialogue held at Cotabato City State University that their regional party, Mahardika, seeks to foster interfaith solidarity among Muslims, Christians, and indigenous non-Muslim communities.
“We are also focused on socio-economic programs meant to boost the productivity of residents of the autonomous region,” said Misuari, a representative to the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament of the MNLF, which he founded in 1972 as an armed secessionist group.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) covers the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi, as well as the cities of Lamitan, Marawi, and Cotabato.
Parcasio, Misuari, and senior MNLF official Yahodza Simpal said the Mahardika Party also aims to address peace and security challenges in far-flung areas of BARMM through cross-sectional peacebuilding initiatives.
Parcasio added that the MNLF is pursuing the return of Sulu to BARMM after the Supreme Court removed the province from the autonomous region in 2024 following a petition by then-Sulu Governor Hadji Abdusakur Tan Sr. Tan, considered Sulu’s political “kingpin,” was elected vice governor in the May 12, 2025 elections.
“Certain members of the Bangsamoro parliament had drafted resolutions to seek the House of Representatives’ support for Sulu’s return to BARMM through a plebiscite,” Parcasio said. “We are for the return of Sulu to the Bangsamoro region.”
Sulu is historically considered the birthplace of the MNLF, which waged a decades-long struggle for self-governance by southern Moro communities under Philippine sovereignty through an autonomous regional government.
