Gov’t: Actions in Maguindanao won’t hamper peace talks

12/07/2009

Malacañang yesterday said that its current decisive moves in connection with the killing of 57 persons in Maguindanao, particularly its declaration of martial law in the southern province, will not hamper the government’s on-going efforts in the forthcoming resumption of its stalled peace talks with the Muslim secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In a press conference at the Palace, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the MILF “understands” what the government needs to do to resolve the Maguindanao massacre.

“They (government actions on the Maguindanao mass killing) will not get in the way,” he stressed as he expressed confidence that the talks between the government and MILF panels will push through as scheduled.

The five-man peace panel of the government led by chief negotiator, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis is set to leave today for the two-day talks slated on Dec. 8-9 in Kuala Lumpur.

His counterpart, Mohagher Iqbal, will also be there to speak on behalf of the MILF.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Annabelle Abaya has been invited to attend the opening ceremony tomorrow.

Other members of the government panel are Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, former South Cotabato province Rep. Adelbert Antonino, former sectoral representative Ronald Adamat and lawyer-businessman Tomas Cabili.

The two-day talks’ agenda has been established, among which is the reactivation of the International Monitoring Team (IMT), the establishment of the Ad Hoc Joint Civilian Component of the IMT and the renewal of the guidelines of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, whose task is to coordinate the interdiction and isolation of criminal and lawless elements operating near or within the MILF communities.

The reopening of formal talks will be the first time that full panel-to-panel members from both sides will be present since negotiations bogged down last year after the aborted signing of the controversial expanded Muslim homeland agreement that was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (SC).

The government is optimistic that the resumption of the talks will allow for fruitful discussions between the two panels concerning the three decades-long Muslim separatist rebellion in Mindanao and that it would ultimately lead to the two parties finally forging a lasting agreement over the matter of peace in the conflict-torn South.

The peace talks between the government and the MILF were suspended in August last year after hostilities between the military and the rebel group were restarted following bloody raids launched by some MILF commands on mostly Christian villages in Central Mindanao.

The raids were apparently prompted by the SC’s spurning of the scheduled forging by the government and the MILF of an agreement granting the rebel group’s demand for Muslims in Mindanao to have sovereign control over a huge area in the South which Muslims claim to be their ancestral land.

But despite the setback, the government and MILF panels continued to hold “backdoor negotiations” on the possibility of reviving the talks.

The MILF, which the military estimates to have around 11,000 fighters, is the largest group fighting for Muslim self-rule in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, a visiting British government official welcomed news on the resumption of the peace negotiations and promised that the UK will continue to share any valuable insights from its own experience in its role as a member of the International Contact Group (ICG), which has been formed to act as a guarantor to the talks.

“We want, hopefully, that the right decision, the sustainable decision, will be made. (The Filipino people) have our commitment in that respect,” Asif Ahmad, head of South East Asia and Pacific Group of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said.

Ahmad at the same time underscored the importance of the two parties’ keeping the momentum going so as not to derail sustainable peace and development throughout the country.

The British official made the statements in Maharlika Village, Taguig City on Saturday where he met members of the Muslim community. He spoke to Muslims from government, civil society and the academe about the issues that were important to them while they expressed concern about the peace and order situation, police reforms, job security and the development of the Muslim community as a whole. These problems, they said, were not confined to Mindanao, as there are pockets of Muslim communities throughout the country, including in Metro Manila, that face similar concerns.

The formation of the ICG, which the Philippine government and the MILF had recently agreed on, paved the way for the resumption of the stalled peace negotiations.

Initially composing the ICG are the United Kingdom, Japan and Turkey as member countries, and The Asian Foundation, the Center for Humanitarian Dialog, the Conciliation Resources and Muhammadiyah as international non-government organization members. It had its first meeting at the British Embassy last Friday.

Michaela P. del Callar, with a report from PNA

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