Gov't panel urged to be transparent in peace talks with MILF

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines  – Stakeholders yesterday urged the government peace panel to be transparent in its peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The stakeholders led by Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat said the government peace panel led by Marvic Leonen should make consultations with the people first before talking peace with the MILF.

The Philippine government is set to resume formal peace negotiations with the MILF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next week.

Lobregat said Leonen had replied to his letter and promised that the government panel would be different from the previous peace panel, as it would be transparent in its dealings with the MILF.

Leonen led members of the government peace panel in a meeting with local officials here last May and gave assurance that their approach with the MILF would be new and entirely different.

Leonen said the government has learned its mistakes after the Supreme Court (SC) turned down the validity of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) signed with the MILF in August 2008.

Several sectors and local officials questioned the validity of the MOA-AD before the SC, citing the lack of consultations with the stakeholders when the agreement was signed.

After the SC ruled that the MOA-AD was unconstitutional, a radical faction of the MILF went in a bloody rampage that left several people killed and thousands homeless in several communities in central Mindanao.

“We are therefore calling upon your commitment that we shall be informed and consulted first before the finalization and submission of the position paper and/or counter-proposals of the government peace panel to the MILF,” Lobregat said.

Lobregat said Leonen’s assurance would be futile and insincere if the government’s counter-proposal is finalized and submitted to the MILF counterpart before any consultations are made.

The MILF, on the other hand, slammed former President Joseph Estrada for being “ignorant” on the issues surrounding the peace talks with the government.

The group scored Estrada over his statements that President Aquino gave too much importance to MILF chief Al Haj Murad when he agreed to meet the rebel leader in Tokyo last Aug. 4.

Estrada also warned Aquino to be cautious in dealing with the MILF, particularly with its demand for a sub-state in Mindanao.

MILF deputy information chief Khaled Musa said Estrada does not know the real issues involved in the talks.

“That’s pure ignorance of the root cause and deeper intricacies of the so-called Mindanao Moro problem,” Musa said.

Musa said Muslim religious leaders and the MILF have not forgotten Estrada’s feasting on roasted pig inside an Islamic school at Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao.

Estrada launched an all-out war against the MILF and overran the MILF main camp on July 10, 2000. To celebrate the victory, Estrada ordered troops to feast on roasted pigs inside a Madrasah (Islamic school) at Camp Abubakar.

“Muslims believe Murkah (divine wrath) fell on him (Estrada) for desecrating the premises of an Islamic school and so he was booted out of the presidency by a bloodless uprising dubbed People’s Power II,” Musa said.

He said peace advocates also blamed Estrada for waging an all-out war against the MILF in 2000, which eventually affected the economy in the region.

Musa said the war left more than thousands of MILF and government troops dead and more than 500,000 Muslim and Christian families homeless. – With John Unson