Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has expressed full support to the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to appoint Moro National Liberation Front’s founding chairman Nur Misuari as Special Economic Envoy on Islamic Affairs to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Salazar said Monday that she will abide by the wisdom of the President giving Misuari the opportunity to take a leadership role in the government “so as to fully implement the peace process in Mindanao.”

“When he won the elections as president in 2016, he already revealed it to me that he really had the intention of giving Misuari the chance to take a leadership role in the government. If this had been done earlier, it could have been better so we will not have become the victim of the collateral damage of (the 2013) siege,” Salazar said.

However, the mayor assured Zamboangueños, particularly the victims of the 2013 siege by the MNLF-Misuari faction that the city government will continue to pursue the case filed against Misuari and his cohorts.

“We will not stop pursuing the case. Para con el maga victima, hinde kita para el diaton aspiration para pidi justicia (To the victims, we will not stop seeking justice),” she said.

Last Friday, the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) agreed to pursue the implementation of the remaining commitments contained in the Tripartite Review Process (TRP) of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement.

“At least before I step down, I want to see an enduring peace in Mindanao,” President Rodrigo Duterte told the members of the Peace Coordinating Committee in a meeting, which he presided at the Matina Enclaves in Davao City.

Misuari, for his part, gladly accepted the position, saying “we are grateful” to President Duterte. (PNA)