Zamboanga mayor holds OPAPP accountable for siege

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The city government here has blamed the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) for the bloody siege staged by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) last year.

Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said the OPAPP neglected a request of the city government and the Regional Development Council for guidance on how to deal with the MNLF.

“This agency that is responsible for the peace process should have done its task in guiding local government units on how to react and what to do,” Salazar said. 

She said there was also a failure in the peace talks as OPAPP did not reach out to MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari weeks before the siege.

Misuari had blamed the OPAPP for ignoring the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF after the agency sent a letter to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to end the tripartite review early last year. 

Salazar said OPAPP officials also left the city during the siege to attend the budget hearings in Manila. 

“We felt that the budget was more important than the people of Zamboanga,” Salazar said.

She said the city government would  pursue the case against 60 suspected MNLF members who were recommended by the Department of Justice to be dropped from the list of those charged with rebellion, genocide and other offenses in connection with  the attack.

“We stand by the rule of law and we expect our pillars of justice to do what is incumbent upon them,” Salazar said.