MILF ready for peace talks, names negotiators

MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim and his deputy Mohagher Iqbal. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 13, 2010) – The Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said it is ready to resume peace talks with Manila.

The announcement came with the MILF retaining Mohagher Iqbal, a senior rebel leader, as the head of its peace panel. The MILF also named lawyer Datu Michael Mastura, Maulana Alonto, Abdullah Camlian, Professor Abhoud Swed Linga, Datu Antonio Kinoc, as members of the peace panel.

Two prominent members, lawyers Lanang Ali and Musib Buat, were replaced due to health concerns. Both lawyers underwent heart bypasses and are deemed unfit for long travel, hectic schedules, and strenuous, prolonged, and tiring negotiations, said Mohammad Ameen, chairman of the MILF Secretariat.

Camlian, the MILF said, was a former chairman of the MILF technical committee, and at times served as alternate member of the peace panel during negotiations with the Arroyo government.

Camlian is a native of Zamboanga City and Basilan and belongs to the Sama-Bangingi-Tausug tribe. Kinoc on the other hand is a member of the indigenous B’laan tribe from Sultan Kudarat province and had served in the past in the MILF technical working group and the front’s technical committee, while Lingga is the chairman of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies.

The MILF said it also formed a board of consultants, but their names were not made public, although two of its members are women – one represents indigenous tribes and the other an Islamic theologian.

Peace talks between the Manila and the MILF, which is fighting for decades for self-determination, was temporarily suspended in June after President Gloria Arroyo, who ended her term, stepped down without new agreements that would put an end to decades of bloody fighting in the restive region of Mindanao.

But new Filipino leader Benigno Aquino III said he would resume the negotiations after the holy month of Ramadan.

The MILF chieftain, Murad Ebrahim, said the rebel group is ready to resume the peace negotiations, but stressed that Manila should honor all previous agreements signed by both sides. “The two parties have to continue from where we stopped, and following the stipulations agreed by both parties as provided for in the Declaration of Continuity for Peace Negotiation between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed in Malaysia on June 3, 2010,” Ebrahim said.

He said if the Philippine leader is sincere in pursuing the peace talks with the MILF, Aquino can resolve the Moro problem in Mindanao within his 6 years in office.

“The greatest challenge to the peace process is whether this time the President has the political will to surmount all obstacles and oppositions including well-entrenched spoilers once the peace talks start or when an agreement will be signed. Running parallel is whether the peace process is truly a problem-solving endeavor or just an exercise to manage the conflict, as what previous presidents, deliberately or otherwise, did. We wish to tell you that whether in negotiation or in the normal course of our Islamic revolutionary struggle, the political aspirations of our people remain the same and constant – we want genuine governance for our people. We want our people to decide for themselves.”

“It is our hope that the Moro question and armed conflict in Mindanao will be settled in our lifetime, otherwise, this struggle of our people for freedom and right to self-determination will drag on for generation after generation. To ensure this, we are preparing the young generations to carry on the great task of liberating our people from the yoke of oppression and thralldom,” Ebrahim said.

MILF chief peace negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal said Manila previously offered the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao instead of what was previously agreed upon in the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 and the negotiations nearly collapsed seven years later after both sides failed to sign any agreement on the most contentious issue — ancestral domain – which refers to the rebel demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland.

The failed agreement triggered deadly rebel attacks in 2007 in Mindanao after the Supreme Court stopped the formal signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

Politicians and lawmakers, many of them wealthy landowners in Mindanao, opposed the ancestral domain deal and filed their petitions to the High Court and asked Manila to make public the rest of the agreement. They claimed the accord was made without public consultations.

The MILF said it will not renegotiate the ancestral domain agreement. "It is already a done deal; we have already initialed the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain. We will not revisit or renegotiate the agreement," Iqbal said.

But despite the ancestral domain deal, there is still a need to amend the Constitution to allow plebiscite on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity and give Muslims their own homeland.

Ancestral domain is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement with the Philippine government.

It covers the whole of the Muslim autonomous region – Sulu, Tawi-Tawi-, Basilan, Maguindanao and Lanao, including Marawi City. And some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. And also Palawan Island, off Mindanao.

Last year, Tawi-Tawi Representative Nur Jaafar filed House Bill 4963 and Arroyo, now a member of the Philippine Congress, also filed a similar bill, proposing to divide the Muslim autonomous region into two – the South Western Autonomous Region and the Central Mindanao Autonomous Region – and that a plebiscite will be held in every village in the provinces of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay and the cities of Isabela, Pagadian, Dipolog, Dapitan and Zamboanga. And also in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani and the cities of Cotabato, Marawi, Iligan, Kidapawan, General Santos, Koronadal and Tacurong. (Mindanao Examiner)

MILF Chieftain Murad Ebrahim Issues Ramadhan Message.

Al-Hj Murad Ebrahim. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

Moro rebels accuse Philippine military of violating fragile truce in troubled South

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ibrahim gestures as he speaks during a press conference in the southern Philippines with members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines headed by Alistair McIndoe and MILF Peace Negotiating Panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal. (Mindanao Examiner Photo – Mark Navales)

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 11, 2010) – Muslim rebels negotiating peace with Manila accused the Philippine military of violating a fragile truce after attack planes bombed areas controlled by Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces.

“Military planes bombed our areas, although there were no reports of casualties, but the attacks violated the cease-fire agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government. We have filed a protest in connection with the airstrikes which occurred in Datu Piang (town in Maguindanao province) this week,” a rebel spokesman, Von Al-Haq, said on Wednesday.

The attack he said, as two MILF groups clashed over control of a rice field in the farming village of Alunganan. “The military took advantage of the fighting between two groups of MILF commanders – Adzmie and Abunawas – and bombed the village and it was only by luck that no civilian was killed in the airstrike,” Al-Haq said.

But the Army’s 6th Infantry Division denied the MILF accusations and said the planes fired only white phosphorous as a warning for the protagonists to stop fighting.

“Our military planes fired white phosphorous rounds in between the warring factions to mark their positions and show that we are serious in our efforts in stopping their conflicts. However, those rounds were smokes and not bombs. After we fired the white phosphorous rounds, the sporadic firefight stopped,” said Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Hao, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division.

He said sporadic fighting between the two rebel groups forced more than 1,200 families to flee their homes for fear they would be trapped in the villages or held as shield by MILF forces. “The operation conducted was a preventive move by the military to protect civilians and families displaced by the conflict between the warring MILF groups in the field,” Hao said.

He said at least 4 rebels from were reported killed in the sporadic fighting between the two rebel commanders. Hao said the military also filed a protest against the MILF for violating the truce with the government cease-fire committees.

The MILF said it suspended the two commanders involved in the fighting and ordered rebel forces to stay inside their camps while it investigates the clashes.

Peace talks between the Manila and the MILF which is fighting for decades for self-determination, was temporarily suspended in June after President Gloria Arroyo, who ended her term, stepped down without new agreements that would put an end to decades of bloody fighting in the restive region of Mindanao.

But new Filipino leader Benigno Aquino III said he would resume the negotiations after the holy month of Ramadan.

The MILF chieftain, Murad Ebrahim, said the rebel group is ready to resume the peace negotiations, but stressed that Manila should honor all previous agreements signed by both sides. “The two parties have to continue from where we stopped, and following the stipulations agreed by both parties as provided for in the Declaration of Continuity for Peace Negotiation between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed in Malaysia on June 3, 2010,” Ebrahim said.

He said if the Philippine leader is sincere in pursuing the peace talks with the MILF, Aquino can resolve the Moro problem in Mindanao within his 6 years in office.

“The greatest challenge to the peace process is whether this time the President has the political will to surmount all obstacles and oppositions including well-entrenched spoilers once the peace talks start or when an agreement will be signed. Running parallel is whether the peace process is truly a problem-solving endeavor or just an exercise to manage the conflict, as what previous presidents, deliberately or otherwise, did. We wish to tell you that whether in negotiation or in the normal course of our Islamic revolutionary struggle, the political aspirations of our people remain the same and constant – we want genuine governance for our people. We want our people to decide for themselves.”

“It is our hope that the Moro question and armed conflict in Mindanao will be settled in our lifetime, otherwise, this struggle of our people for freedom and right to self-determination will drag on for generation after generation. To ensure this, we are preparing the young generations to carry on the great task of liberating our people from the yoke of oppression and thralldom,” Ebrahim said.

MILF chief peace negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal said Manila previously offered the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao instead of what was previously agreed upon in the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 and the negotiations nearly collapsed seven years later after both sides failed to sign any agreement on the most contentious issue — ancestral domain – which refers to the rebel demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland.

The failed agreement triggered deadly rebel attacks in 2007 in Mindanao after the Supreme Court stopped the formal signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

Politicians and lawmakers, many of them wealthy landowners in Mindanao, opposed the ancestral domain deal and filed their petitions to the High Court and asked Manila to make public the rest of the agreement. They claimed the accord was made without public consultations.

The MILF said it will not renegotiate the ancestral domain agreement. "It is already a done deal; we have already initialed the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain. We will not revisit or renegotiate the agreement," Iqbal said.

But despite the ancestral domain deal, there is still a need to amend the Constitution to allow plebiscite on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity and give Muslims their own homeland.

Ancestral domain is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement with the Philippine government.

It covers the whole of the Muslim autonomous region – Sulu, Tawi-Tawi-, Basilan, Maguindanao and Lanao, including Marawi City. And some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. And also Palawan Island, off Mindanao.

Last year, Tawi-Tawi Representative Nur Jaafar filed House Bill 4963 and Arroyo, now a member of the Philippine Congress, also filed a similar bill, proposing to divide the Muslim autonomous region into two – the South Western Autonomous Region and the Central Mindanao Autonomous Region – and that a plebiscite will be held in every village in the provinces of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay and the cities of Isabela, Pagadian, Dipolog, Dapitan and Zamboanga.

And also in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani and the cities of Cotabato, Marawi, Iligan, Kidapawan, General Santos, Koronadal and Tacurong. (With a report from Mark Navales)

MILF nagmatigas, hindi isusuko ang mga lider na sabig sa atake sa Mindanao

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Setyembre 19, 2009) - Nagmatigas ang Moro Islamic Liberation Front kahapon na hindi nito isusuko ang mga lider na isinabit ng militar at pulisya sa madugong atake sa Mindanao nuong nakaraang taon.

Unang hiningi ng pamahalaang Arroyo sa MILF na isuko sina Abdurahman Macapaar, Ameril Kato and Sulayman Pangalian na siyang itinuturong nasa likod ng paglusob sa Lanat at Sarangani, gayun rin sa North Cotabato at Maguindanao nuong nakaraang taon.

Maraming nasawi sa naturang atake at sinunog pa ng mga rebelde ang ilang kabahayan sa mga lalawigan.

Mismong si MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim ang nagsabing hindi nito isusuko ang mga lider dahil iimbestigahan pa ang mga ito ng shariah court.

Ito rin ang unang sinabi sa Abante ni Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, at Eid Kabalu, spokesman ng nasabing grupo. Itinanggi na noon ng mga lider ang kanilang pagkakasangkot sa atake na naganap matapos na mabasura ang Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain nuong Agosto. (Mindanao Examiner)

Tigil-opensiba, ipinag-utos ng MILF; peace talks bubuhaying muli

MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / July 26, 2009) – Pormal ng nag-deklara ang Moro Islamic Liberation Front ng cease-fire laban sa militar at isinusulong na ng pamahalaang Arroyo ang peace talks upang matigil ang karahasan at kaguluhan sa Mindanao.

Ngunit ipinag-utos rin ng MILF sa mga rebelde na ipagtanggol ang kanilang sarili sa anumang hakbang na maaring ilunsad laban sa mga tumutugis na sundalo sa mga tinuguriang “rogue MILF” members.

Sa hanay ng mga rebelde ay wala umanong “rogue MILF,” bagamat iginigiit ng militar at pulisya na pinaghahanap nila sina Commander Ameril Kato, Abdurahman Macapaar at Sulayman Panglian at ang kanilang mga tauhan na itinuturing nasa likod ng madugong raid sa Lanao provinces, North Cotabato, Sarangani, Iligan at iba pang mga lugar sa Mindanao matapos na mabuwag ang peace talks.

Kahapon ay kinumpirma ni Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, na nilagdaan ni Murad Ebrahim, ang pinuno ng rebeldeng grupo, ang isang order na nagpapatigil sa lahat ng opensiba sa magulong rehiyon.

“We are reciprocating the government’s suspension of military operations against the MILF. With these declarations of cease-fire, we can now move on and talk about peace in Mindanao,” ani Iqbal sa pahayagang Mindanao Examiner.

Sinabi pa ni Iqbal na ang cease-fire ay mahalaga sa posibleng resumption ng peace talks na nabasura nuong nakaraang taon matapos na mabigo ang pamahalaan at MILF na malagdaan ang Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).

Ang MOA-AD ay inisyal na nilagdaan ng mga peace negotiators nuong Hulyo ng nakaraang taon sa Malaysia, ngunit nabasura naman ito matapos na kuwestyunin ng Zamboanga, Iligan at North Cotabato sa Korte Suprema ang legalidad nito. Sinabi ng Korte Suprema na unconstitutional ang MOA-AD.

Idiniin ng MILF na hindi ito makikipag-usap sa pamahalaang Arroyo maliban kung ipatutupad nito ang MOA-AD. (Mindanao Examiner)

4 killed in bombing outside Catholic church in Mindanao

Philippine National Police - Scenes of Crime Officers investigate the explosion Sunday, July 5, 2009 outside a Catholic church in Cotabato City. Four people are killed and over three dozens injured in the attack blamed by the military to Moro rebels. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geo Solmerano).

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 5, 2009) – At least 4 people were killed and about three dozens wounded in a bomb attack Sunday near a Catholic church in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines.

The Catholic Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation said the bomb exploded at around 8.20 a.m. near restaurants and stalls selling roasted pigs outside the church in downtown Cotabato, also home to minority Muslims.

An army vehicle passing near the church was also hit by shrapnel from the explosion largely blamed by the military to Muslim separatist rebels.

“The Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s special operations group is behind this attack and this is terrorism,” Colonel Jonathan Ponce, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Ponce said the casualties in the bombing were civilians. “The bomb was detonated just as the people are coming out of the church,” he said.

Ponce said the MILF was also behind a roadside bombing late Saturday in Maguindanao’s Datu Piang town that wounded 3 people.

The MILF has denied it was behind the latest blast and condemned the attack, saying, it was against Islamic principle.

“We condemned this attack against innocent civilians, against the Church. This is against Islamic principle and against humanity,” said Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader.

Kabalu also assailed the 6th Infantry Division for quickly linking the MILF to the attack.

“This (accusation) is clearly aimed at maligning the MILF and portraying the MILF as a terrorist organization. The army has already blamed the MILF even if the police is yet to investigate the bombing. This could also be the handiwork of the military to create fear and chaos in Mindanao,” he said in a separate interview.

The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting the past three decades for self-determination.

The blast occurred after the MILF ordered its forces to further improve combat skills as fighting continues in the troubled region.

The secluded Murad Ebrahim, chieftain of the 12,000-strong MILF rebels, gave the order during a meeting with his commanders on a mountain hideout in central Mindanao where fighting since last year had forced tens of thousands of Muslims to flee their homes.

”It is only by sincere evaluation of these encounters that the MILF would be able to improve its fighting skills and capabilities and hope to lick the enemy in the next confrontation,” Murad said.

The MILF peace talks with Manila collapsed last year after rebels accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on a homeland deal that would have granted territories to about four million Muslims across 700 villages in Mindanao.

Murad said he always preferred peace negotiation over war in the resolution of the conflict in Mindanao, but continued government offensive forced the rebels to defend themselves. He called on rebel commanders to be steadfast and patient in the face of the “brutalities” of the military.

Murad also accused government troops of burning some 3,000 houses owned by Muslims and indiscriminate bombing, shelling, and arrests of civilians.

He said the military also imposed a food blockade from reaching tens of thousands of hungry refugees and prevented humanitarian groups and journalists from inspecting refugee shelters in Maguindanao.

Murad assailed the military for saying that the MILF infiltrated refugee shelters and rebels were using evacuation centers as base for reserved forces.

“The prevention of media to visit the war-torn areas by the AFP contributed to their bad image and the declaration of the military that the internally-displaced persons are reserved forces of the MILF is a blunder in the war for propaganda,” Murad said.

The military claimed more than a thousand rebels were killed in the fighting since last year. But Murad denied the report and said MILF forces killed about 500 soldiers and captured their weapons, including two unmanned aerial vehicles shot down in Maguindanao.

One of them was a US military spy plane and the other was believed to be owned by the Philippine Army. US troops are deployed in Maguindanao and helping the local military fight terrorism. (With a report from Geo Solmerano)

A Firm Statement Of Patriotism to Adhere To The MOA-AD: MILF Chief Murad Ebrahim

Honoring our Written Agreements

It behooves upon the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to keep on track the status of the peace process. None of us think the MOA-AD will end the life of the country. But it lets the Bangsamoro people feel a sense of purpose with new “associative ties” to the rest of the Philippines, redefining the relationships between the Filipino people and Bangsamoro people.

I believe that tracking our footprints on the negotiation path can help us tread peacefully using the MOA-AD as a great motivation on the way forward. After 4 years and 8 months of Exploratory Talks, the MILF wants to keep going and see if we can leave behind the imprints of past Moro wars, end the armed conflicts of recent decades and so deal with the Comprehensive Compact.

The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) is an abstract idea that is hard for ordinary people to connect to. It’s good to build public confidence around this conceptual framework at basic level, with a written instrument, for the peaceful negotiated settlement of age-old “Moro Problem” and armed conflict in Mindanao.

As a revolutionary movement, the MILF takes the controversy over the release of the contents of the MOA-AD a call to redefine patriotism. What defines us as patriots of our historic Bangsamoro homeland is a positive force in the country today.

What we, mujahideens, fight for now find open articulation in the MOA-AD: Our political sentiments and collective actions to pursue the right “to determine our own future political status free from imposition”.

This Memorandum of Agreement has the ingredients of an “elegant formula” fulfilling one of the objects of negotiation to put an idea before the public. It does on paper equations of “trade-offs” instead of “sell-out”.

More importantly, it is a firm statement of patriotism on behalf of all the Bangsamoros who claim it a birthright right to assert their distinct identity. It makes a plausible public expression of what political moderates and peace advocates demand in common as well as human right activists march about in mass.

Let us not forget, too, our comrades-in-arms in the liberation movements who have been aspiring for what they progressively desire to accomplish a long time. Today we find one voice one sentiment in our long struggle for self determination and freedom.

To track the GRP-MILF negotiation path, the aborted signing in the Malaysian capital is confirmation to wary investors and multi-donor countries on the incapability of the GRP of living up to its commitments and honoring its agreements. Certainly no rhetoric of anti-Moro and anti-Muslim sentiments opposed to the MOA-AD can distort the bias of diplomacy towards settling the essence of the Bangsamoro problem with third party facilitation.

For the sake of the primacy of the peace process, I want to caution people in the media to desist from fueling years of vengeful arrogance. Through opinion-editorials and spins in news coverage, your diatribe alienates many others—more than our revolutionary forces.

For the sake of evoking public response, the domestic scrutiny of the MOA-AD before the Supreme Court has gone the way of media intrusion for full disclosure. The trouble is that it can be more injurious to the GRP negotiator’s credibility rather than the MILF side, for it makes consensus and agreement very hard to achieve.

Attempts to stop the signing of the agreed text of the MOA-AD through a petition for temporary restraining order are other forms of suppression of Bangsamoros parallel to domestic political decisions. Of what peaceable benefit is derived from the foreclosure of the negotiability of matters where the MILF does not contest it by arms? This may affect only the reputation for discretion of Government negotiators in subsequent stages for the details of how the Comprehensive Compact, if reached, is to be revealed.

All things considered, the negotiation of the MOA-AD is a done deal in accordance with modern treaty law practice. As such, for the MILF side, there is none to agree to any further as framework agreement except to honor the terms and stipulations in good faith. In as much as the MOA-AD was duly initialed by representatives of the Parties thereto afterward they exchanged copies. The original initialed copy of the agreed text in the English language together with maps annexed thereto as of 27 July 2008 was deposited with the Malaysian Secretariat.

The initialing took place in Kuala Lumpur to jibe with the formal signing ceremony dated 5 August 2008: on the part of the GRP negotiating panel chairman Rodolfo Garcia, and for the MILF negotiating panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal. Likewise, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon affixed his initial on the agreed text. The Malaysian facilitator Datuk Othman bin Abd Razak properly initialed as witness the copy of agreed text.

On a personal note, we do commend both the MILF and the Government negotiating panels and all those who took part in this great endeavor.

Camp Darapanan
Al Haj Murad Ebrahim
MILF Chairman

MILF Peace Talks Breaking Apart, Fighting Continues In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 23, 2008) – Hope of resuming the peace talks between the Arroyo government and the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, remains dim as fierce fighting continued Saturday in Mindanao.

The Philippine military said at least 100 rebels were killed since early this week in the skirmishes in central Mindanao. But the MILF disputed the military report, saying, only 7 rebels died in the fighting.

“As far as the military is concerned, we have reports to prove that more than rebels were killed in the fighting,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

“It trash, that’s military propaganda and only seven of our members were killed, but we can say that dozens of government soldiers perished in the fighting,” Eid Kabalu, a senior rebel leader, said by phone from his base in Mindanao.

He said fighting between rebel and military forces were raging in the towns of Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Datu Piang, all in Maguindanao province.

Ando said three soldiers were killed and 23 more wounded in the battles since Monday. He said there is an ongoing military offensive aimed at capturing two notorious MILF commanders Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar.

“We have done our best to embrace peace, but the MILF started the hostilities by pillaging villages and murdering innocent civilians in Mindanao. We are now implementing the full force of the law and we will arrest those responsible for the traitorous attacks against civilians,” Ando said.

The two rogue commanders led a series of attacks recently in the provinces that killed dozens of people, mostly civilians, but the MILF claimed most of those were militias fighting the rebels.

Former army chief Romeo Tolentino, now a senior member of the National Security Council, also criticized leftist human rights organizations and the Communist Party of the Philippines, including the National Democratic Front, which had previously accused soldiers of human rights violations in Mindanao.

“All these groups, which have been so noisy in the past about human rights issues suddenly, are silent about the atrocities committed by the MILF rebels.

This clearly shows that these organizations are also terrorists which have no respect for human lives, security and welfare of the people,” he said.

The Amnesty International also accused the MILF of human rights violations.
“MILF units that targeted villages have engaged in serious violations of international law and should be held to account,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.

Over 160,000 people were displaced by the fighting that broke out this week in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat. The number of war refugees is increasing as the exodus of civilians continues in Maguindanao and other neighboring areas.

Because of the hostilities, some politicians had urged villagers to arm and defend themselves from rebel attacks. Armed militias were also deployed to guard their communities against further atrocities.

Zarifi said the deployment civilian militias can set off a chain of reprisals.

“Experience from around the world shows that the deployment of civilian militias can set off a chain of reprisals and only increases the danger facing civilians.”

“All sides to this conflict should step back from the brink and demonstrate their commitment to avoid harming civilians. The MILF must control its forces, and the Philippine government should take responsibility for the security of all peoples in the Philippines, regardless of religion or ethnicity,” he said.

The rebels launched attacks after the aborted signing of the Muslim homeland deal between the MILF and Manila. The accord would have granted Muslims their own separate state in more than 700 villages across Mindanao, but it also sparked a series of protests from mostly Christian politicians and residents opposed to the inclusion of their areas to the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

The Supreme Court stopped the signing of the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain after some lawmakers and politicians filed separate petitions asking the government to bare the rest of the deal with the MILF.

Manila also demanded the MILF to peacefully surrender Kato and Macapaar.

But the secluded chieftain of the MILF, Murad Ebrahim, said they will not surrender the two rogue commanders and warned that an all-war is inevitable if the peace talks with Manila fail.

“We cannot subject our members to the laws of the government,” Murad said, insisting that the MILF is a revolutionary organization.

Murad said government forces have indiscriminately attacked Muslim areas while pursuing the groups of Kato and Macapaar. Both MILF leaders and dozens of their followers had been charged in court in connection with the attacks in Mindanao.

Mohagher Iqbal, the chief MILF peace negotiator, also said that war could break out in Mindanao if fighting does not stop. “This is grim scenario and I don’t even want to think about it, but if the peace talks collapse then there will be war again in Mindanao,” he said in a separate phone interview.

Iqbal blamed hawkish faction in the Arroyo government and Christian politicians opposed to the Muslim homeland to the fighting in Mindanao. “The voice of reason is dwarfed by the voice of hatred and prejudice. The peace talks are slowly breaking apart and if this continues, may God help us all,” he said.

Iqbal said the MILF will not any more negotiate the Muslim homeland deal with the Manila. “The ancestral domain agreement is a done deal because we have already initialed the accord during our meeting in Malaysia last month,” he said.

Malaysia, a member of the influential Organization of Islamic Conference, is brokering the peace talks between the Philippines and the MILF. But Kuala Lumpur already withdrew most of its truce observers deployed in Mindanao after accusing Manila of stalling the peace talks. (Mindanao Examiner)

Blame Manila If Peace Talks Fail, MILF

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 29, 2008) – Muslim rebels negotiating for a separate state in the southern Philippines warned that peace talks may collapse unless Manila honors its commitment to grant them their demand for ancestral domain.

Peace talks have been stalled since last year after government negotiators reneged on its deal to grant the Moro Islamic Liberation Front its demand.

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the Filipino peace panel last year agreed on the scope of the ancestral domain, but later reneged on the accord that will constitute a separate homeland for over 4 million Muslims and indigenous tribes in Mindanao.

Malaysia which is brokering the peace talks said it would start pulling out its truce observers deployed in Mindanao if there is no progress in the negotiations.

“The Philippine Government bears the responsibility to comply with its commitment to adhere to the consensus points and agreed Memorandum of Agreement draft proposal on ancestral domain. Such moves will avert the peace process from falling apart,” said Murad Ebrahim, the chieftain of the MILF.

“Let me reiterate to all, including the international community that the MILF leadership is very serious and fully committed to resolve the conflict between the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines through the current peace process,” he said.

Ebrahim said Manila is to be blamed should the peace talks collapse. “If the peace process fails as a result of the GRP's dilly-dallying and spoiling, we are left with no choice, but to seek other means of achieving our objective. Should that happen the government is to blame for failing to settle the conflict through diplomatic means,” he said.

The MILF previously appealed to rebels and supporters for patience as the talks stalled over demands for a separate Muslim homeland. The MILF earlier warned that hostilities may erupt in Mindanao if the peace talks fail.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Kuala Lumpur wanted progress in the peace process. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim also said Kuala Lumpur will not be sending any more truce observers to Mindanao after the mandate of its current team ends in September. Members of the Malaysian Defense Forces had been in Mindanao since 2004 as part of the International Monitoring Team (IMT).

The monitoring team is composed of 41 officers from the Malaysian Defense Forces, the Royal Malaysia Police, and the Prime Minister's Department and is also supported by 10 military officers from Brunei Darussalam and 5 from Libya. Canada and Japan have also members on the team.

The MILF said government negotiators headed by Rodolfo Garcia completely disregarded the agreement on the ancestral domain and insisted again that the granting of homeland to Muslims in Mindanao would solely be through Constitutional process which the rebel group previously opposed. But the Philippine Constitution prohibits the dismembering of the country.

"This stance of the GRP peace panel has virtually jeopardized the integrity of the peace process and to continue with the talks would virtually turn it into a circus," Iqbal said.

The ancestral domain which covers the whole of Muslim autonomous region 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. And even Palawan Island in central Philippines and the Sulu Archipelago.

President Gloria Arroyo opened up peace talks with the MILF in 2001 and signed a cease-fire agreement, but some rebel commanders see the negotiations as a strategy which is aimed at temporarily stopping the hostilities in Mindanao until her term ends in 2010 and pass on the secessionist problems to the next president. (Mindanao Examiner)

Military Agents Spied On MILF Meeting In South RP

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People's Direct Vote: Key To The Snag In The GRP-MILF Peace Talks

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Estados Unidos Nagpahayag Ng Suporta Sa Mindanao Peace Process

MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 11, 2007) – Nagpahayag ng suporta ng Estados Unidos sa peace process sa pagitan ng pamahalaang Arroyo at Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Sa katunayan ay mismong si Paul Jones, isa sa mga mataas na opisyal ng embahada ng Estados Unidos, ang nakipagkita kay MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim kamakalawa sa isang kampo ng mga rebelde sa lalawigan ng Sultan Kudarat.

Inamin naman ito ng MILF at sinabing maganda ang naging paguusap ng dalawa at Sinabi rin ni Jones na patuloy ang suporta ng kanyang bansa sa peace process sa Mindanao.

Isa ang Estados Unidos sa mga bansang nagbubuhos ng malaking pondo sa Mindanao upang maisulong ang kaunlaran ng rehiyon. Karamihan sa mga pondong ito ay naipagpagawa ng mga kalsada at daungan, patubig at kuryente at maraming iba pa.

Naunang nag-alok ang Estados Unidos ng $30-milyon upang pondohan ang iba pang mga proyekto kung magkakaroon ng kasunduan ang pamahalaan at MILF.

Kasalukuyang may peace talks ang dalawang grupo at naniniwala ang pamahalaan na magkakaroon ng resulta ito bago magtapos ng kanyang termino si Pangulong Gloria Arroyo sa 2010. (Mindanao Examiner)

Peace Talks Maybe Imperiled, Says MILF After Chieftain Is Linked To Mindanao Bombings

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu shows a complaint against North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Pinol who accused the rebel group as behind the recent bombing in Makilala town in North Cotabato province. (Mindanao Examiner/Mark Navales)

MAGUINDANAO (Mark Navales / 18 Oct) – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Wednesday warned that the peace talks with Manila may be imperiled after police filed criminal charges against its chieftain and two Jemaah Islamiya militants in connection with recent bomb attacks in the restive Mindanao region.

“This is a very serious development. We are now discussing this issue. This could imperil the peace talks,” Mohager Iqbal, the MILF chief peace negotiator, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Police linked Murad Ebrahim, chieftain of the MILF, and some of his commanders in the October 10 bombing in Makilala town in North Cotabato province where six people had died and more than two dozen others injured.

A bomb also exploded at a market in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province and in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province, killing several people.

Aside from Ebrahim, police also filed criminal charges against Indonesian JI bombers Dulmatin and Umar Patek, and a Pakistani national, Usman al Majad; and several MILF rebels.

It was not immediately known what evidence the police have on Ebrahim.

North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Pinol earlier accused a top MILF commander, Basit Usman, as behind the Makilala bombing.

The MILF has previously denied any involvement in the bombings, but police said a former rebel, who surrendered to the government, implicated Ebrahim and the others.

Presidential peace adviser Jesus Dureza said he was surprised to learn that Ebrahim was linked to the bombing. “I was really surprised to hear that they included MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim to the bombing. I have not seen any connection of the MILF leader to the bombing.”

“This development is very sensitive because this can have an effect to our peace efforts in Mindanao,” Dureza said, adding, he has to see the charge sheet against Ebrahim.

The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state similar to Iran.

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.

Peace talks ended last month in Malaysia 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.

Malaysia, an influential member of the Organization of Islamic Conference, is brokering the peace talks.

Ebrahim this month warned that Manila should be blamed if the peace talks fail. He 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.

Iqbal previously 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 said.

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.

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. (Mindanao Examiner)