MANILA – A religious leader in Mindanao has appealed to concerned voters in Mindanao not to elect candidates running in the May 10 elections, particularly former president Joseph Estrada, for allegedly blocking efforts to bring peace to the war-torn island.
The appeal was made by imam Sheik Jamil Datu Haron Yahya, the chairman of the Muslim Concerned Citizens based in Marawi City which is part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Aside from Estrada, Yahya identified the two other candidates whom he described as alleged “anti-Mindanao peace advocates,†as Senator Mar Roxas, the vice presidential candidate of the Liberal Party (LP), and Frank Drilon who is running for senator under the LP.
In particular, Yahya blamed Estrada for being responsible for the government’s all-out war policy against the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) when he was president in 2000.
Estrada, the standard bearer of the “Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino†(PMP, or Strength of the Filipino Masses), said he wants to reclaim Malacanang following his “illegal†ouster in January 2001 by the Edsa 11 People Power revolution.
On the other hand, Yahya accused Roxas and Drilon of blocking the signing of a draft agreement between the government and the MILF for an expanded Moro homeland under the concept of ancestral domain by filing a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) in 2008.
The SC later declared the draft agreement as illegal because this meant the creation of a state within a state and that it was done without consulting the concerned sectors as mandated by the Constitution.
In a statement, Drilon said that if the LP presidential candidate Senator Benigno Aquino wins in May, the party is prepared to support any move that will give the fullest autonomy to ARMM.
Aquino, the only son of the late global democracy icon president Corazon Aquino, is leading in the opinion polls to win the presidency in the May 10 elections.
Drilon also supported the proposal for the creation of a permanent and independent commission that will talk peace not only with the MILF but also with the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing the New People’s Army.
Earlier, government and MILF negotiators acknowledged that the peace talks being brokered by Malaysia would not result in the signing of an agreement under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who is to step down from Malacanang on June 30.
However, Drilon welcomed the statements of the two panels that they are prepared to continue with the negotiations under the incoming administration.
He pointed out the Arroyo government should accept the fact that it failed to find a lasting solution to bring peace to Mindanao and should leave the job to the next administration.
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kuya ano na po balita sa bloggista.org? medyo matagal na walang update.. super busy ka cguro..