Muslim Homeland Is A Done Deal, MILF Says

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 5, 2008) – Philippine Muslim rebels on Tuesday said the ancestral domain agreement they signed with government peace negotiators was a done deal despite a court order stopping the formal signing of the accord that would make up a separate Islamic homeland in Mindanao.

“We have initialed the text of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral domain last July 27, 2008. The pact is a done deal. It is binding on the contracting parties who are obliged to refrain from acts that would defeat the object and purpose of their agreement,” said Mohagher Iqbal, chief peace negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He said the agreement was already signed July 16 in Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks, although a symbolic signing on Tuesday was cancelled because of the temporary restraining order issued by the Philippines Supreme Court.

The court issued the order after Zamboanga City Rep. Erico Fabian and other lawmakers who were opposed to the signing of the agreement filed a petition on Monday.

North Cotabato Deputy Governor Emmanuel Pinol last week also petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the signing. Pinol is opposing the inclusion of several towns in the province in the ancestral domain which would make up a separate Muslim homeland under the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

The MILF said the court order has no effect on the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain signed by both peace panels.

“The act of initialing the MOA-AD agreed text between the parties constitutes a signature of the Philippine government and MILF. Initialing was in fact done with a credible third party witness, the Malaysian government as facilitator of the talks since 2001,” he said.

Iqbal said he and Rodolfo Garcia, chief government peace negotiator, and Presidential peace adviser Hemogenes Esperon signed the agreement with Datuk Othman bin Abdulrazak, the chief peace facilitator, for the Malaysian government.

He said the cancelled signing ceremony in Kuala Lumpur was a matter of formality, but even without it, the agreement is already a done deal. He said the postponement of the signing would have no effect on the deal. “Nothing. This is not even a setback to the MILF. We are on the upper hand especially in the battle for moral ascendancy,” he said.

Iqbal said court’s TRO only shamed Manila because many dignitaries invited to the affair had to be informed about the cancellation of the signing of the agreement.

“It is the Arroyo administration which is shamed in the eyes of the international community. There are so many ambassadors already in the Malaysian capital to attend the signing ceremony, only to be told that it is cancelled at the last minute,” he said.

Among those already in Kuala Lumpur are US ambassador to the Philippines, Kristie Kenney and Ambassador Sayed ElMasry, adviser to the Organization of Islamic Conference Secretary General and Special Envoy for Peace Process in Southern Philippines.

Sayed ElMasry agreed to officially endorse the ancestral domain agreement, according to Iqbal.

Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said the court order will not affect the peace talks and that negotiators are optimistic about the peace process in Mindanao.

“It is already a done deal, the Tuesday signing of the ancestral domain (agreement) is just for formality. We are optimistic with the peace talks and we will pursue the peace process. We want to achieve peace and appeal to everyone to support the talks,” Kabalu said by phone Tuesday in Mindanao.

Peace talks was stalled since September last year 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.

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.

The ancestral domain 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, including Iligan, Zamboanga and Isabela cities. And even Palawan province in central Philippines.

Philippine authorities have previously blamed the MILF for the spate of bombings and kidnappings in Mindanao in recent months. The MILF said the attacks were carried out by rebels disgruntled by the slow pace of the talks.

Kabalu said they are optimistic that the talks would lead to a peaceful solution to the Muslim secessionist problems in Mindanao.

President Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 and vowed to forge a peace deal with the rebels before her term ends on 2010.

The MILF is fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state in Mindanao Island, whose 18 million populations include about 4 million Muslims.

On Monday, thousands of people in Zamboanga and Iligan rallied against the inclusion of their villages to the ancestral domain. Zamboanga Mayor Celso Lobregat said Muslims and Christians are living peacefully and will not allow the city to be dismembered or become part of the ancestral domain. At least 8 villages in Zamboanga City have been included in the ancestral domain.

Esperon said only the predominantly island of Sacol would be included in the ancestral domain. He said that a plebiscite would be held in areas covered by the ancestral domain which would make up the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

Peace negotiators last month also signed an agreement in Kuala Lumpur that will empower the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity to build, develop and maintain its own institutions, inclusive of civil service, electoral, financial and banking, education, legislation, legal, economic, police and internal security force, judicial system and correctional institutions necessary for developing a progressive Muslim society.

Manila previously offered the MILF the Muslim autonomous region, which is composed of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and are among the poorest in the country torn by strife and clan wars since its creation in 1989. The MILF flatly rejected the offer and insisted on self-determination.

The MILF said it will only sign a peace deal with Arroyo government if it establishes genuine governance for Muslims either in the form of "state" or "sub-state".

But analysts fear that President Arroyo or her allies in the House of Representatives might use the peace talks with the MILF as an excuse to amend the Constitution to change the system of government from presidential to parliamentary or federalism to allow the MILF to have a separate state and eventually prolong her into power beyond 2010.

Under the presidential form of government, Arroyo, who deposed President Joseph Estrada in a people power revolution in 2001, is allowed only one six-year term.

In the charter change proposal suggested by her political allies who dominate Congress, she can be elected as prime minister should Congress dissolve the Senate and change the system of government to parliamentary. (Mindanao Examiner)