Gov’t to renegotiate MoA-AD on ‘condition’ — peace adviser

03/31/2009

The adviser in the government’s negotiations with the Muslim secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday said the state was willing to renegotiate the controversial memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MoA-AD), but on the condition that the parameters for its renegotiation be held “in purview of the Supreme Court (SC) decision” last August.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino Razon Jr. said this after the Japanese government, through its envoy in Manila, made official its extending of over half a million dollars funding to the Philippine government for development projects in the strife-torn southern region of Mindanao.

Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura signed nine grant contracts worth $660,000, or about P31 million, making official the Philippines and Japan’s joint undertaking in the South dubbed the Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development program, or “J-Bird” program.

At a press conference after the contract signing, Katsura, in behalf of the Japanese government, reiterated his call for Manila and the MILF to immediately declare a ceasefire so that both sides could return to the negotiating table.

“I sincerely hope these projects will help mitigate the current humanitarian crisis in Mindanao. I strongly look forward to a ceasefire and immediate resumption of peace talks between the government of the Philippines and the MILF,” he said.

The grants are intended to fund the construction of five school buildings, a potable water supply system, an education center and an irrigation project in areas where the MILF operate, Katsura said.

He noted that Japan, the Philippines’ biggest aid donor, has already contributed a total of US$1.3 million to Mindanao since 2006.

“In this context, Japan strongly supports the efforts by all parties concerned to end the long-standing conflict in Mindanao through the peace process, and strongly hopes that peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the MILF will be resumed immediately,” Katsura said in a statement.

He added that the Japanese government was ready and willing to help in the peace negotiations.

Razon, for Manila’s part, assured the envoy that the Philippines is committed to the peace process and thanked him for “Japan’s full support to the peace process.”

Such a show of support, he said, “has emboldened us all the more to call on the MILF’s leaders to return to the negotiating table at the soonest possible time to get the peace talks rolling again.”

Early last month, the Japanese government, through Katsura, called on Manila and the MILF to immediately declare a truce in their fighting and return to the negotiating table for the sake of the thousands of Mindanao residents who were displaced due to the strife.

The Japanese envoy made the appeal as Tokyo provided an additional emergency food aid in the amount of $9.5 million to the thousands of displaced persons in conflict areas in the South.

The assistance covered the distribution of 7,500 metric tons of rice to the affected civilians through the United Nations’ World Food Program.

Katsura said a halt to the fighting between government troops and MILF rebels should be immediately implemented to put a stop to the displacement of thousands of civilian residents in Mindanao, who are fleeing their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Peace talks between the 12,000-strong MILF and the government, which are being brokered by Malaysia, were suspended in August last year after three of the rebel group’s commanders led their men in pillaging several mostly Christian towns and villages in Mindanao.

The bloody raids were apparently prompted by a SC order blocking the scheduled signing of the MoA-AD by the secessionist group and the government that would have given the Muslim militants control over a large area in the South.

The high court ordered a halt to the forging of the agreement, which was practically a government concession of more provinces in Mindanao to the control of the Muslim people, after declaring it unconstitutional.

Over 600,000 persons were displaced by the fighting that followed, and nearly 300 combatants and civilians were killed or injured.

While large-scale hostilities have stopped, sporadic clashes continue. Last Friday, seven soldiers and at least 20 “rogue” MILF rebels were killed in gun battles in Maguindanao province.

The contentious issue of Muslim “ancestral domain” is considered to be the last remaining hurdle for a final political settlement that would end the four decades-long Muslim insurgency in the South, which has claimed more than 120,000 lives. Once signed, both sides are expected to work toward a final peace deal that would include plans for the future of the MILF’s 12,000 fighters.

The MILF, which used to be a part of a larger secessionist group that signed a peace deal with the government in 1996, had been battling for self-rule in Mindanao since 1978.

A peace monitoring team, which includes Japan, Brunei, Libya and formerly headed by Malaysia, has been credited for considerably reducing the number of clashes between MILF rebels and government troops in Mindanao.

Malaysia, however, withdrew its peace monitors in the South last September due to the lack of progress in the peace negotiations. It, though, kept its role as facilitator of the talks.

Over the years, Japan has been implementing various support humanitarian and development in Mindanao, a restive southern Philippine region constantly plagued by wars and terrorist attacks.

In 2006 and 2007, Japan carried out 21 grant assistance for grassroots human security projects amounting to a total of ¥145 million or approximately US$1.6 million, and has been implementing, through the Yen loan scheme, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Social Fund for Peace and Development Project which is worth ¥2,470 million or US$27.2 million.

Through these projects, various kinds of infrastructure such as schools, training centers, water supply systems and roads have been rehabilitated or constructed.

In addition, Japan has committed to provide financial assistance for the re-construction and rehabilitation of conflict-areas in Mindanao amounting to ¥600 million or US$6.5 million once a final peace agreement is signed by the government and the MILF.

Aside from the food aid, Japan has also provided sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets, polyethylene containers and sheets for tents to the thousands of displaced civilians in evacuation centers worth a total of US$81,853 last December.

Other Philippine officials present at the contract signing were Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Rafael Seguis, who is also the chairman of the government panel negotiating peace with the MILF, and Dr. Danda Juanday, chairman of the Bangsamoro Development Authority. Jason Faustino, Riza Recio and AFP

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