The Liberal Party (LP) Sunday asked the Bangsamoro Supreme Council of Ulama to reconsider the “fatwa” (religious edict) it earlier issued forbidding Muslims to vote for two of its stalwarts, former Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas, in the upcoming elections.

LP campaign manager and former education secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said that the ulama (Muslim legal scholars) apparently misunderstood Drilon and Roxas when they considered votes for the two LP candidates as haram or forbidden.

The fatwa issued by the Bangsamoro Supreme Council of Ulama was published online by the website of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (www.luwaran.com) last Saturday. In the fatwa, the ulama considered Drilon, Roxas and former President Joseph Estrada as “enemies of Islam” and forbade Muslim voters from electing them to power.

While Estrada was criticized for waging an all-out war against the MILF during his presidency, Drilon and Roxas were assailed for their staunch opposition to the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) between the Philippine Government and the MILF. It was not pursued after the Supreme Court declared it as unconstitutional.

The agreement, the ulama said, “would have brought the conflict in Mindanao to near closure at the negotiating table between the Philippine government and the MILF."

But Abad dispelled the claim of the group that Drilon and Roxas are “against the welfare of the Bangsamoro people," adding that the two are willing to explain their side of the issue.

“They are not against the aspirations of the MILF in achieving autonomy and recognizing their ancestral domain. They are actually more concerned on the possible dismemberment of the country," he said.

Abad added that LP has already sent envoys to talk with MILF representatives “to explain our positions and clarify why Senator Roxas and Drilon took the stand against the MoA-AD."

“The real problem is lack of communication and opportunity for the party to explain their side. I hope that the MILF will reconsider their position. We appeal for more dialogue and for reconsideration of the fatwa," he added.