MARAWI CITY (Zamboanga Journal) Representatives from the influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) are scheduled to visit the southern Philippines to assess the status of implementation of the 1996 peace accord between Manila and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), officials said Tuesday.
The 16-man delegation is arriving Manila Wednesday and would meet with Filipino officials before proceeding to a meeting in Marawi City the next day. The group will also go to Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Jolo island to meet with former Muslim rebel and security leaders.
While in Marawi, the delegation will hold a conference with officials about the Madrasah projects, the Lake Lanao Watershed Protection and Development Council and National Power Corporation on the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) in Lake Lanao.From Marawi City, they will proceed Thursday to the town of Parang in Maguindanao province to meet with former MNLF rebels-turned-government soldiers.
The delegation would travel to Cotabato City on Friday where officials would brief them on the current security situation and trade opportunities in the Muslim autonomous region, which comprises the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Jolo island.
Cotabato City Mayor Muslimen Sema, who is also a senior leader of the MNLF, would meet with the OIC officials and discuss some provisions in the peace agreement that Manila allegedly failed to honor, among them the livelihood programs for former rebels.
"Mayor Sema will raise these issues to the OIC delegation because these are what former rebels are complaining about. Many former MNLF fighters are disgruntled and wanted the government to fulfill and fully honor the 1996 peace accord they signed with the Philippine government," said Abdullah Cusain, the mayor's spokesman said.
Cusain said the MNLF lauded the OIC for sending a mission to the Philippines to assess the implementation of the peace deal. "We hope the OIC delegation would be able to see the real situation on the ground and finally make a comprehensive report about the status of the peace agreement," he said.
The OIC mission, dubbed as "2006 OIC Field Visit in Mindanao" has been slated following the 32nd Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICEM)at Sana'a Yemen last year, where the Philippines and the OIC Committee of the Eight agreed to send a mission to the southern region to check on the status of the remaining implementation requirement for peace accord.
The MNLF under Nur Misuari signed the peace accord with the President Fidel Ramos ending more then three decades of bloody fighting in the southern Philippines, and accepted a limited autonomy over four Muslim provinces that were later expanded into 5 provinces.
Misuari later became governor of the Muslim autonomous region, but had accused the government of failing to honor the peace agreement, and his forces attacked major military bases and held more than 100 civilians hostage in Jolo and Zamboanga. He fled to Malaysia, but was arrested and sent back to Manila where he is facing rebellion charges.
Secretary Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser on the peace process, said the visit of the OIC delegation is timely and relevant because it will further boost peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
"The visit is truly another historic event as we continue to keep track of the full implementation of the government's commitments in theGRP-MNLF peace agreement. It will also boost the ongoing peace negotiations between the government and the MILF," Dureza said.
Manila opened peace talks with the MILF -- which broke away with the larger MNLF in 1978 -- in an effort to end the hostilities in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich region.
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