Government welcomes new MILF position on 'sub-state'

MANILA, Philippines - The government’s chief peace negotiator welcomed yesterday the announcement of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that it would no longer demand an independent state in Mindanao.

Dean Marvic Leonen, head of the government’s peace negotiating panel, said the MILF’s position not to demand an independent state would pave the way for a “politically feasible” solution to the Mindanao conflict.

“This will definitely pave the way to finding an understanding for a politically feasible arrangement that maintains the territorial integrity and the fundamental premise of people’s sovereignty in one republic,” he said.

“We will listen to their proposals and are willing to work with them to find a just, comprehensive and lasting peace,” Leonen said.

Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF’s chief negotiator, said the front would no longer pursue the Bangsamoro juridical entity that was part of the aborted Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional last year.

Instead, Iqbal said the MILF would propose the creation of a “sub-state arrangement,” likening the sub-state to one of the 50 federated states of the United States.

The government is still awaiting the decision of the Malaysian government to remain as third party facilitator in the peace negotiations.