Yusop Jikiri

Yusop (also Yusoph) Jikiri (1954 – October 17, 2020) was a Filipino politician, leader within the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and governor (2001–2004) of Sulu Province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). He also served as a representative from Sulu's 1st District (2007–10) and ran again in 2010, but lost to Tupay Loong. He was the beneficiary of shifting political alliances between the Tan and Loong families. Jikiri served as the Jolo-based chairman for the MNLF from 2017 until his death in 2020 from bone cancer.

Background Jikiri was born in 1951 as the son of a poor farmer in Indanan, named after a famous Moro leader/bandit under the American occupation during the Moro Rebellion. He attended Indanan Elementary, National High School, and attended college but did not finish his bachelor's degree due to the outbreak of war in 1970. He married four times and has several children; one of his sons, Thong Jikiri, is a provincial board member in the 1st District of Sulu. also she has a daughter from Davao named Sana-a.

Involvement in the MNLF Jikiri joined the Moro National Liberation Front and became one of their top commanders, eventually rising to become Chief of Staff under Nur Misuari.

In 2000 he joined 14 other MNLF officials to sign a manifesto leading to the ouster of Misuari as its leader. The so-called Council of 15 accused Misuari of being incompetent as governor of the ARMM and was led by Muslimin Sema.

Political activities Governor in 2001 Jikiri ran for governor of Sulu in 1998 and again in 2001 as a candidate of the People Power Coalition, a party affiliated with the MNLF. In 2001 he won, with his party (the PPC-MNLF) winning eight of the ten seats in the provincial board. His running mate was Abdel S. Anni and his campaign coordinator was Omar Bailang. It was his second try for the governorship of Sulu since the MNLF joined mainstream politics after the 1996 GRP-MNLF peace agreement. He claimed upon his victory that he only had P100,000 when he first decided to run, attributing the rest to a "modest contribution" by former Governor Tupay Loong.

Jikiri was sworn into office by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Malacanang. In his victory speech, he vowed to emancipate the province from "poverty and ignorance" and called on the people to help it regain its historic past as a "great nation of a great people." He also urged his fellow Tausugs to move forward with peace, devoting their time and efforts on education, agriculture, infrastructure and transport development, counter-narcotics, sports development, and health services.

2004 and 2007 Elections Jikiri ran again in 2004 but lost the governor seat to former Vice Governor Ben T. Loong. He came back to run in the 2007 elections and won the seat as representative. He also became Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) chairman.

Role as MNLF Chairman In 2017, Yusop Jikiri assumed chairmanship of the MNLF Council of Leaders. As chairman, he led the MNLF on a strongly pro-Government course, conducting joint operations with the Armed Forces of the Philippines against insurgents with the Abu Sayyaf Group. Jikiri was also instrumental in preventing the political exclusion of Sulo-based MNLF factions in the formation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Philippines Commander of the Joint Chiefs Gilbert Gapay said upon Jikiri's death that said Jikiri was “one of the strong pillars” who advocated trust and respect as key to achieving lasting peace and development in the Bangsamoro.

Prior to his death, Jikiri had made it clear that it was his expectation as MNLF chairman that the organisation would run with joint chairpersons splitting control of the organisation between the Sulu factions and the Mindanao faction, with power shared between Sema and Jikiri's successor.

Despite this, Sema was selected as caretaker chair at a November 2020 meeting in Maguindanao, leading to Jakiri's son threatening to reject the chairmanship unless Sulu was given more executive representation in the MNLF.