MILF, Sulu clash over resolution

JOLO, Sulu — A growing legal and political divide has emerged in Sulu following the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) formal rejection of a provincial resolution that seeks to bar the group from operating anywhere in the province.

Sulu Provincial Council Resolution No. 83-2025, passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan on 26 December 2025, explicitly prohibits all MILF activities — military, political and social — within Sulu. The move has drawn sharp criticism from the MILF Sulu Political Committee (Polcom), the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), and several peace-monitoring groups, which jointly described the resolution as a “dangerous distortion” of national law and international peace agreements.

Vice Governor Abdusakur M. Tan confirmed that the resolution reflects the province’s decision to assert independent local governance, distancing itself from institutions linked to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). This position follows the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that excluded Sulu from the BARMM.

According to Tan, the provincial government no longer recognizes any political, administrative, or security authority exercised by the MILF in Sulu, arguing that any such mandate became void after the province’s exclusion from the autonomous region in 2024.

MILF leaders in Sulu strongly disagree. In a statement, the group stressed that the provincial council has no authority to override the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the 2014 peace accord signed between the MILF and the Philippine government and backed by the international community.

“It is clear that the MILF is not a private armed group or an illegal element,” the statement said. “We are a recognized revolutionary organization and a principal signatory to a national agreement that cannot be set aside by local resolutions.”

The Tan administration, however, maintains that Resolution No. 83-2025 is necessary to preserve peace and order. Provincial officials raised concerns over unauthorized MILF activities, particularly a planned convergence in Luuk, Sulu, which they said lacked the required military and police clearances.

Allowing such gatherings without “lawful authority or security coordination,” Tan warned, could lead to misunderstandings and threaten stability in the province.

While MILF leaders and Member of Parliament Matarul Estino insist that the resolution undermines the peace process, provincial leaders remain firm. They say their responsibility is to ensure public order and protect the welfare of Sulu residents under the province’s current jurisdiction.

Tan has repeatedly emphasized that Sulu prefers direct governance under the Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX), rather than what he describes as “another layer of bureaucracy” through BARMM or MILF-linked structures.

National government peace mediators and international monitors are expected to step in, as stakeholders work to prevent the dispute from escalating into tensions on the ground.