Ceasefire paves way for resumption of peace talks

DAVAO CITY — The ceasefire on the ground between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is firmly holding despite the impasse in the peace negotiation following heated disagreements last September over issues on ancestral domain claims.

"The ceasefire is very much holding firmly. And we are glad it turned out that way despite the snag in the negotiating table. But hopefully the peace talks would resume soon with the ceasefire strongly in place. We have continuously been meeting and checking on developments on the ground," Brig. Gen. Edgardo Gurrea, head of the government team to the Joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH).

Gurrea stressed that with the ceasefire holding on the ground, it is indicative that the resumption of the peace talks shall take place as soon as the kinks shall be ironed out.

The government and the MILF panels have yet to resume negotiations after it reached an impasse last Sept. 7 over the contentious issue on ancestral domain.

The two panels shall soon resume the stalled peace talks after the government submitted to the MILF last Nov. 9 a new draft on how the ancestral domain issue can be resolved. The MILF central committee still has to deliberate first on the provisions of the government’s new proposal before it gets back to the negotiating table.

Gurrea commended the MILF for its sincerity and cooperation in making sure that all the mechanisms under the CCCH are effectively working.

"The MILF has been cooperating in all levels of the ceasefire monitoring teams which enabled us to immediately check on whatever clashes that break in the field," he told The STAR.

Gurrea said it has not only been the 60-man Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team that has been of help in keeping the ceasefire on the ground.

"Aside from the IMT, the local monitoring teams (LMTs) in each of the affected localities have also been working well," he further said.

Guerra also cited the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) which serves as the focal mechanism in the interdiction and isolation of criminal elements situated within or near the known MILF communities.

The AHJAG, which has five joint government and MILF teams organized to share information and intelligence at the field level under a common order of battle, has been instrumental in resolving kidnapping cases and the arrest of criminals in different parts of Mindanao.

The joint government and MILF committee is also on an information and advocacy program in an effort to make the local government officials as well as military and police officials on the existing ceasefire on the ground.