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)
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