PICONG, Lanao del Sur (October 11, 2025) — The acting chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front — Ustadz Abdulkarim Tan Misuari — visited here last week the family of Bangsamoro Regional Speaker Ali Pangalian Balindong, who died from illness in a hospital in Makati City early on.
Misuari, son of MNLF’s founding chairman, Nur Misuari, personally relayed to members of Balindong’s family in Picong the front’s sympathy for them owing to the demise of their 85-year-old patriarch.
Balindong had served as member of the regional assembly of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, as congressional representative of the second district of Lanao del Sur and, subsequently, as speaker of the 80-member parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
For members of the MNLF and his fellow regional lawmakers, Misuari’s visit to the family of Speaker Balindong was a tacit indication of the close ties between the Misuari and Balindong clans. Misuari is also a member of BARMM’s parliament, which has 80-members.
While a young lawyer, Balindong was one of the legal advisers of the MNLF’s negotiating panel that crafted, along with counterparts in the government, the December 23, 1976 Tripoli Agreement in Tripoli Libya.
The compact was to become the major reference in the government’s separate negotiations with the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Both fronts now have separate peace compacts with the national government and have representatives in the 80-seat BARMM lawmaking body.
Misuari was accompanied to Picong by senior MNLF members, among them Regional Parliament Member Romeo Sema.
Misuari, while in Picong, also met Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. at the residence of the Balindongs, where they talked about peace and development issues.
Photo shows Misuari (left) in a huddle with Adiong, whose administration as governor covers 39 towns in Lanao del Sur and more than 90 barangays in its capital, Marawi City. (CHUCK SALAPUDDIN)