The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Sultanate of Sulu have joined forces to file civil and criminal charges against former President Benigno Aquino and his then Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II over the abandonment of the claim on Sabah and aborting the 1996 final peace agreement.

The Zamboanga siege was orchestrated by Aquino and Roxas and was aimed at weakening the morale of the MNLF

The decision to back down from the Sabah claim led to the Lahad Datu siege, while the termination of the agreement between the MNLF and the government led to the bloody Zamboanga City conflict.

Lawyer Emmanuel Fontanilla, MNLF spokesman, told the Daily Tribune the Zamboanga siege was orchestrated by Aquino and Roxas and was aimed at weakening the morale of the MNLF.

MNLF helped the Sultanate assert its right over the disputed territory.

“Aquino and Roxas were supervising the military and police operations, I personally talked to Roxas at that time,” Fontanilla said.

He alleged that Aquino and Roxas sided with Malaysia, which brokered the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The MNLF sent fighters to help the Sultanate in the Lahad Datu conflict that sought to recover Sabah from Malaysia.

He said Malaysia wanted to weaken the MNLF and the game plan then was to terminate peace negotiations between MNLF and the government panel.

After the termination of peace talks, MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari declared the Independence of Bangsamoro Republik that included Sabah.

“That was the golden opportunity to implement their game plan of an all-out war against the MNLF despite an existing peace agreement,” he said.

Since the MNLF has thousands of supporters in the area, Aquino and Roxas ordered massive bombings and airstrikes on civilian targets which even included navy boats in the military operations.

Fontanilla said during the three-week fighting, human rights and international media were able to document atrocities.

“’We will coordinate with international human rights group in building up our case,” he said.

The Sultanate of Sulu, earlier, said it is preparing to file suits against former president Aquino for abandoning the claim of the disputed territory of Sabah.