The leaderships of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have united in endorsing Vice President Leni Robredo for president and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte for vice president, considering their platform of governance for the Moros.
MNLF Chairman Muslimin Sema and MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim issued on Saturday, May 7, a joint and signed statement endorsing the candidacies of the two female candidates "in the spirit of convergence, camaraderie, and mutual honor and respect."
This came after MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari endorsed a different presidential bet, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., that earned Sema's objection.
MILF is a breakaway group of MNLF when they both disagreed with the past government's move to give the Bangsamoro region semi-autonomy.
MNLF and MILF, two of the biggest Islamic groups in the country, said their considerations "in choosing the next leader of the GPH (Government of the Philippines) are the Bangsamoro peace process, the full implementation of all signed peace agreements, and most importantly, the interest of the Bangsamoro people."
MNLF and MILF both believed that "only one candidate has come out in the open declaring her commitment to sustaining the gains of the Bangsamoro Peace Process." And that is Robredo, they said.
The two groups also agreed to "strongly support" Carpio.
With the endorsement, "both fronts are aware of the political consequences of this declaration, especially in consideration of the extended transition period for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Government," they said.
Nonetheless, they asserted that "the primacy of the peace process and the Bangsamoro people is compelling enough for the MILF and MNLF to be unequivocal on the choice of presidency."
The two groups committed to assisting in the conduct of clean, honest, and credible elections and said they would respect the outcome of the polls as reflected in the people's ballots.