MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 1, 2008) – Philippine leader Gloria Arroyo named a new peace negotiator that will deal with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Arroyo appointed Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis as chief peace negotiator, but the MILF said it will resume the stalled talks only if the government honors the failed Muslim homeland deal.
Peace talks collapsed after rebel forces launched a series of deadly attacks in Mindanao because of the failed signing in August of the Muslim ancestral domain agreement.
The deal, the Supreme Court said, was unconstitutional, but the MILF said peace negotiators had initially signed the accord in July in Malaysia, which was brokering the peace talks.
“Our position remains, we will not resume peace talks unless President Arroyo honors the MOA-AD, that’s it,” Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF chief peace negotiator, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Iqbal was referring to the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain which was initialed by the MILF and the government peace panel headed by then Rodolfo Garcia.
The territorial land deal also sparked a massive protest from Christian politicians and residents in areas covered by the agreement, which would have granted a separate homeland for more than four million Muslims across over 700 villages in Mindanao.
Arroyo is yet to name other members to the government peace panel. Seguis vowed to do his “best to advance the cause of peace in Mindanao.”
“This is a tremendous challenge and opportunity which I humbly accept knowing fully well the difficult road that lies ahead. We will do our work quietly, but diligently because in any negotiation it is just as important to listen and understand the views of the other side,” Seguis said.
Seguis, a career diplomat who retired in 2004, was reappointed as Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special Concerns. He led the crisis team to Iraq on two separate occasions to negotiate for the eventual safe release of kidnapped Filipino workers Angelo dela Cruz and Roberto Tarongoy.
The Philippine News Agency said Seguis received a Presidential Citation on July 19, 2005 “for his steadfast and able leadership of Team Iraq” which resulted in the successful release of the Filipino hostages.
He also received the Order of Sikatuna with the Rank of Datu (Gold Distinction) on October 26, 2006. It is the highest presidential award bestowed to government officials and employees.
It said Seguis is often tapped to represent the Philippines in vital diplomatic missions and conferences in the Middle East, including being a regular member of the guest Philippine delegation to the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and Islamic Summits from 1996 to 2008.
He also represented the Philippines in various United Nations (UN) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) high-level meetings. He is the recipient of many awards and citations from DFA, including the “Distinguished Service Award” conferred by then Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr.
Seguis also served as Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia and East Timor ( 2002 – 2003); Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen (1999-2002); Iraq and Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (1992 to 1996); Deputy Chief of Mission in Tripoli (1988-1991) and in various capacities in the Philippine Embassies in Rome, Bangkok, Cairo, Tehran and the United States.
At the DFA, he served as Assistant Minister for Fiscal Management (1986-1987) and Assistant Secretary for Middle East and Africa (1996-1999). Seguis is also concurrently Chairman of the Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat of the DFA.
He is a graduate of the University of the East and attended post-graduate studies at the American University in Cairo and the Ateneo de Manila Graduate School of Business. (Mindanao Examiner)
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