A Moro Islamic Liberation Front member reads the Koran, a daily routine among the fighters of the country's largest Muslim rebel group. (Juan Magtanggol)MAGUINDANAO (Juan Magtanggol / 18 Sept) The Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, warned Monday that Manila should be blamed if the peace talks fail after both sides ended a negotiation in Malaysia without any agreement.
Manila began peace negotiations with the MILF in 2001, but no major accord has been signed by both sides, except for a cease-fire agreement. And many rebels are slowly losing their patience on the five-year old peace talks.
Murad Ebrahim, the MILF chieftain, said the talks are now passing “a turbulent area” and that the Filipino government must take responsibility for the breakdown of the negotiations.
“This signals that we are now on the danger zone of the peace talks,” Ebrahim said, referring to the failure of the negotiations on Sept. 9 held in Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks.
The MILF has rejected Manila's offer for a limited autonomy in the mineral-rich, but restive Mindanao island, home to about 4 million Muslims who want a separate Islamic state.
Mohager Iqbal, the head of the MILF peace panel, said the Philippine government offered them the 5-province Muslim autonomous region and 613 other Muslim villages in exchange for a peace deal.
"They offered the MILF the whole of the Muslim autonomous region and 613 other Muslim villages scattered in Mindanao, but all these are subject to Philippine legislation. The offer is just like a leopard skin and we did not agree with it."
"Peace cannot be unilaterally imposed on the MILF and the Muslim people," Iqbal told the Mindanao Examiner.
The Muslim autonomous region is composed of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi -- which are among the poorest in the country torn by strife and clan wars since its creation in 1989.
The MILF previously proposed that the Muslims be given an option to choose in a referendum whether they wanted Mindanao to be an independent state or not.
Peace talks ended with both sides failing to sign any agreement on the most contentious issue -- ancestral domain -- which refers to the MILF demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland. It is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement.
"The peace talks ended with nothing, but conditional offers from the Philippine government which we cannot accept," Iqbal said, adding, the Filipino President Gloria Arroyo has lack political will to resolve the decades old problems in Mindanao. "GMA lacks the political will to resolve the Mindanao problems." GMA refers to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Ebrahim also said that offer was unacceptable to the Muslims. “This is a conditional offer that no real revolutionary group worthy of its name can accept,” he said.
The official Philippine News Agency said Manila will present to the MILF a new proposal aimed at resolving the ancestral domain issue hounding peace talks between both camps.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita earlier said the peace talks are far from totally collapsing since negotiators will discuss what communities with Muslim-dominated population can be included in the so-called Bangsamoro homeland.
But for the MILF, the quest for peace is important to all Muslims in Mindanao. "There is no template for peace and what we need is a political settlement in Mindanao to bring development to the land we call home," Iqbal said.
The government previously announced that it was to sign a peace deal with the MILF by September or before the start of Ramadan, Islam's holiest month, but Iqbal said this is unlikely after both sides failed to agree on issues on ancestral domain and how the government and the rebel group would share natural resources in Mindanao.
Iqbal said the peace panels are likely to resume peace talks again before end of this month to discuss the ancestral domain. "The peace panels are likely to meet again before September 30 in Malaysia to discuss again the contentious issue of ancestral land. We don't expect a peace deal soon unless the Philippine government settle the issue of ancestral domain," he said.
Iqbal said the MILF has submitted its proposal to the government peace negotiators, but they disagreed on the scope of coverage of the Muslim ancestral domain. "There are still some contentious issues and these are the scope of Muslim territories under the ancestral domain and how the government and the MILF would share the resources in these areas," he said.
The ancestral domain covers the five Muslim autonomous provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao. And other areas in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes.
The MILF previously said it is willing to compromise if only to arrive at an acceptable, reasonable and comprehensive agreement that would include not only the Muslims, but all 18 ethnic tribal groups in Mindanao. Once an agreement is reached on how the MILF can govern these areas, government and rebel peace negotiators would finally discuss the political settlement of the country's longest-running Muslim insurgency problem.
Iqbal said Malaysia may pull out its cease-fire observers in Mindanao if the peace talks collapse. "Malaysia may recall all its cease-fire observers deployed in Mindanao if the peace talks totally collapse. That is the implication if the peace talks fail and Malaysia has implied this clearly to the MILF and the Philippine peace negotiators," Iqbal said.
The 60-man Malaysian-led international truce observers are deployed in Mindanao since last year to monitor the truce between MILF rebels and government forces.
Peace talks between the government and MILF started in January 1997 but the absence of a neutral third party bogged down the initiative. It was only on March 24, 2001, after the all-out war against the MILF declared by former President Joseph Estrada that Malaysia, at the behest of the Philippine government, facilitated the talks.
However, in February 2003, despite the avowed all-peace policy of President Arroyo, an all-out war was again declared against the rebels, but both sides later agreed to resume peace talks. Just this year, President Arroyo said that 80% of the peace talks have been completed and that permanent peace in Mindanao is within reach.
Ebrahim said the MILF will continue the peace talks, but warned the government that the rebel group would side with the Muslims should they decide on other means to continue their struggle for freedom.
“For the MILF, negotiation is still the best option to resolve the conflict in Mindanao. We have already spent so much time, efforts and resources for this,” Ebrahim said. “However, if the government insists to dilly-dally and treat the peace talks as mere counterinsurgency tool, who can blame the Bangsamoro people if they choose other means to continue their legitimate struggle for freedom and self-determination? For the MILF, we will stand by our people.”
1 comment:
I think the MILF is just asking for way too much.
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