MANILA – Strong opposition from local officials in Mindanao appears to be the main stumbling block in the signing of a peace agreement with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) before the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ends in June, a member of the government panel revealed.
Ronald Adamat pointed out that many officials have expressed strong objections and reservations on the proposed peace agreement in their consultations with the local officials and other concerned sectors.
Adamat is a member of the government panel talking peace with their MILF counterparts during their resumption of negotiations in a determined bid to end the decades-old strife in Mindanao that has cost thousands of lives, including those of innocent civilians.
The talks are being hosted by the Malaysian government in its capital of Kuala Lumpur with assistance from the influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) as well as the US, the European Union, Japan and other nations.
According to Adamat, the opposition stems mainly from the refusal of the MILF to budge from its original demand for an expanded autonomous region under the concept of ancestral domain before it signs a peace agreement.
But surprisingly, Adamat disclosed that even officials of the Muslim-dominated areas like the island provinces of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu and Basilan are against the MILF demand during the consultations held in early January.
Tawi-Tawi, Sulu and Basilan are component provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).along Lanao del Sur, Marawi City and Maguindanao where 57 people were massacred on November 23.
Officials of the provinces of Zamboanga, led by Mayor Celso Lobregat of Zamboanga City, have also strongly opposed their inclusion into the expanded autonomous region as demanded by the MILF, Adamat said.
“They are all against the MILF demand during the consultations,†he stressed. “But what was quite surprising is that the leaders of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi are also against their inclusion into the expanded autonomous region.â€
For his part, Adamat quoted Lobregat as saying that the MILF has not given up in its demand for a separate identity, governance and control of natural resources.
In particular, Adamat said Lobregat expressed the fear of other Mindanao officials that the MILF might discriminate against the Christians and other ethnic or religious groups if it is given full control of the natural resources in the expanded autonomous region.
In this light, he doubted whether a peace agreement with the MILF could be signed before President Arroyo steps down from Malacanang on June 30 this year.
When the talks resumed in late 2008, the President expressed the hope that such agreement could be signed before her term expires.
Despite the strong opposition, Adamat remained optimistic that a peace deal could be reached with the separatist group but without a deadline being imposed by either the government or the MILF.
He added the government panel would continue to hold consultations with other officials and other concerned sectors to get a fuller understanding of the issues involved.
In May 2008, the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) declared as illegal and unconstitutional the proposed peace agreement between the government and the MILF based on the concept of ancestral domain.
The SC acted on the petition of several Mindanao leaders who questioned the legality of the agreement and that they were not consulted on the issue as required by the 1986 Constitution.
Highlighting the SC decision was that the agreement was tantamount to giving the MILF the authority to establish an “independent and separate state within an already existing state†which is contrary to the Constitution.
Image credit: www.iblogforpeace.org
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