Photo: Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo arrives from the U.S.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo together with newly Appointed (left) Presidential Management Staff Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, (center) Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Secretary Eduardo Ermita and DTI Secretary Peter Favila (right) having a conversation shortly after her arrival Sunday, February 08, 2009 from United States. (Charlie Olila)

Philippines names new peace negotiators for the MILF

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 23, 2008) – The Philippines on Tuesday named three more to the government team that would negotiate peace with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Secretary Hermogenes Esperon, who serves as the government peace adviser, said the new members are Adelbert Antonino, the mayor of General Santos City; Ronald Adamat, a former lawmaker; and Nasser Pangandaman, the current Agrarian Reform Secretary.

President Gloria Arroyo earlier appointed Rafael Seguis, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary, as head of the government peace panel. Seguis said he would do his best to advance the cause of peace in Mindanao.

Peace talks collapsed in August after the failed signing of the Muslim ancestral domain agreement. The Supreme Court said the deal was unconstitutional.

The aborted signing also triggered a series of deadly rebel attacks in the southern Philippines. Because of the attacks, President Arroyo disbanded the government peace panel negotiating with rebels and demanded the MILF to surrender those responsible in the attacks - Abdullah Macapaar, Sulayman Pangalian and Ameril Kato.

Arroyo previously said the government would only return to the peace talks if the MILF surrenders the trio, but the rebel group rejected the demand. Manila has put up a P10 million bounties each for the capture of Macapaar, Kato and Pangalian.

For its part, the MILF said it would resume peace talks only if President Arroyo honors the territorial land deal that negotiators had initially signed in July in Malaysia.

“We are firm with our stand, we will resume peace talks only if President Arroyo honors the Muslim ancestral domain agreement,” Mohagher Iqbal, the chief MILF peace negotiator, told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from his farm in Mindanao.

Iqbal said the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain was already 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. (Mindanao Examiner)

Photo: The President's Men - Rodolfo Garcia and Hermogenes Esperon

A government photo shows Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., right, shakes hands with Rodolfo Garcia, former chairman of the government peace panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, for his "meritorious service" during an honorary dinner at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City recently. Manila calls on the MILF to lay down their arms before peace talks could resume.

Philippines Abandons Homeland Deal With Muslim Rebels

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 29, 2008) – Manila on Friday said it is abandoning the homeland deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, but would still pursue peace talks with the Philippine’s largest Muslim rebel group, officials said.

Government and rebel peace negotiators last month have initially signed the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain. But the Supreme Court stopped the signing of the deal after some lawmakers and politicians opposed to the accord filed separate petitions, saying, there were no public consultations.

The accord would have granted Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao, but the deal also sparked a series of protests from politicians and residents opposed to the inclusion of their areas to the agreement that will make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

President Gloria Arroyo, who opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001, has shifted in the basic premise of the government's peace effort after hundreds of rebels under Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led a series of attacks in the provinces in Mindanao that killed dozens of civilians.

“The focus of our talks shall shift from the armed groups to the communities. The parameters governing our negotiations shall be a balance between the constitutionality and public sentiment,” Arroyo said.

Arroyo said the change in the government's approach to end the Mindanao conflict was prompted by the atrocities committed by the MILF attacks.

Hermogenes Esperon, the presidential peace adviser, said the government will longer sign the ancestral domain deal. “We will not sign the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain, but will continue with further negotiations with the MILF to arrive at final peace deal,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Esperon earlier said the ancestral domain deal is not self-executing and that there is a need for future discussions as peace negotiators frame the comprehensive peace agreement.

The MILF said it will not anymore negotiate the ancestral domain agreement because peace negotiators have already initialed the deal.

“It is already a done deal and we have been saying this all the time. We will not revisit or renegotiate the agreement on the ancestral domain,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said in a separate interview.

Kabalu said the MILF leadership will have to decide what steps to take after Manila abandoned the Muslim homeland deal. “It is really unfortunate that the Philippine government again reneged on the ancestral domain deal which is the product of long and arduous work of the peace negotiators,” he said.

He said the MILF will not abandon its fight for self-determination. “Our right to self-determination is non-negotiable,” he said. Last year, peace talks also stalled after government negotiators approved the Muslim homeland deal only to reneged it later.

Esperon said granting of independence is not and never was the intent of peace talks. He said it was the same position made by President Gloria Arroyo in her May 6 letter to Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi when the government peace panel and MILF were discussing the peace process.

Government peace negotiators and Arroyo's political allies have earlier proposed 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.

Militant groups and political activists have repeatedly accused Arroyo of using the peace talks with the MILF to amend the Constitution and eventually prolong her to stay into power.

Under the presidential form of government, Arroyo 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 and eventually prolong her into power beyond 2010.

Arroyo deposed President Joseph Estrada in a people power revolution in 2001, but corruption scandals in her government and allegations of poll fraud in 2004 has made her extremely unpopular among many Filipinos.

Manila’s announcement coincided with fresh government assaults on suspected rebel strongholds in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte provinces, where security forces are pursuing the groups of Kato and Macapaar.

Kabalu said military forces fired cannons and rockets and bombed MILF targets in the provinces in the guise of pursuing the two rogue rebel leaders. “They are attacking us and MILF forces have been ordered to defend themselves,” he said.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the assaults targeted rogue rebels. “This is a punitive action against rogue MILF members and this operation will continue until Kato and Macapaar are captured,” he said.

Manila demanded the MILF to surrender peacefully the two rogue commanders, now wanted by authorities, to face trial over the killings of civilians in the provinces of North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao where rebel forces pillaged villages. Rebels launched the attacks after the aborted signing of the controversial ancestral domain agreement.

The influential Organization of the Islamic Conference condemned the rebel attacks. (Mindanao Examiner)

Catholics Hold Rally Vs Muslim Homeland In Southern Philippines

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat speaks during a rally attended by about 3,000 people in front of the Zamboanga City Hall on Monday, August 4, 2008. Lobregat spearheaded the rally to protest the inclusion of eight most Muslim villages to a proposed Islamic homeland in Mindanao. Manila signed a deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels on the Muslim ancestral domain that will make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. Zamboanga was the former capital of the Moro province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 4, 2008) – Some 3,000 mostly Christian residents here held a rally Monday to protest the inclusion of at least eight Muslim villages in a proposed Islamic homeland in the southern Philippines.

Mayor Celso Lobregat of Zamboanga City also criticized the government for including the villages in the ancestral domain that the government supposedly would grant the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels under the peace pact.

He said the century-old Zamboanga City Hall and the Fort Pilar, an open-air Catholic shrine and the Cathedral are located in two of the eight villages, he said.

Many of those who joined the rally wore red shirt and were mostly local government employees and students who were ordered by their teachers to join the protest. Others were curious about the rally and the issue of the Muslim ancestral domain.

Local Catholic priests in their homily on Sunday also urged the residents to join the rally.

“Our teacher told us to attend this rally. We do not know what they are talking about here,” one high school student told the Midnanao Examiner.

His teacher said the principal ordered them to bring the students at the rally. “We were just told to bring the students here at the rally and to put on a red arm band in support of the protest rally,” she said.

Some of the protesters carried placards denouncing the inclusion of Zamboanga villages in the Muslim homeland. One placard reads: “Gloria tumigil ka na…Gloria magisip-isp ka.”

Another reads: “I am a good Moro. I am against the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. Let us all unite to live in peace.”

Lobregat, also wearing a red shirt and Zamboanga City Archbishop Romulo Valles, clad in white robe and red skull cap, also spoke about the ancestral domain before the huge crowd. Some of their followers carried wooden crosses and different statues of the Virgin Mary.

President Gloria Arroyo’s peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said there is need to amend the Constitution to allow the referendum in areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the Bangsa¬moro Juridical Entity.

Peace negotiators are to formally sign the agreement on the ancestral domain on Tuesday in Malaysia, which is brokering the seven-year old talks. The peace agreement also supposedly would provide for a referendum on whether more than 700 other villages across Mindanao wanted to be part of the ancestral domain.

Lobregat said residents already twice rejected plebiscites in the past to include the city in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Esperon denied Lobregat’s claim on the coverage of the proposed plebiscite. He said only Sacol Island in Zamboanga City is included in the ancestral domain. “I assured the people of Zamboanga that only Sacol, which is a predominantly Muslim island, is included in the ancestral domain,” he said in a separate interview.

Sacol is one of 25 island communities largely populated by poor Muslims, mostly fishermen and seaweed farmers. Many Muslim enclaves in Zamboanga have little or no development projects at all and villagers rely mostly on foreign aid for their water and electricity sources, despite the city government's more than P2-billion savings in banks.

US government agencies such as the USAID, AMORE and GEM and the US military have been active in providing Muslim villages in the city with infrastructure projects, medical missions and solar-power technology that provides electricity to homes.

Several department stores, mostly owned by influential Chinese businessmen, also closed shops before noontime in support of Lobregat’s call to protest the inclusion of Zamboanga City villages to the Muslim homeland.

Lobregat said many Muslim village leaders are also opposed to the inclusion of their communities in the Bangsamoro homeland. Most of these leaders, however, are also the mayor’s allies and supporters.

But many Muslims in Zamboanga City said they wanted to be part of the Bangsamoro homeland and are supporting the MILF peace talks. Many of them claimed that they are being discriminated against by Christians. Others also claimed that many department stores in the city do not hire Muslims, but only Christians.

Muslim groups and peace advocates in Zamboanga City are supporting the peace talks and favor the ancestral domain. Ancestral domain was arguably the thorniest issue that blocked a political settlement between the government and the rebels.

Zamboanga was the former capital of the Moro province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.

Aside from Zamboanga City, the ancestral domain includes the whole of ARMM and also some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. It also covers Palawan province in western Philippines. ARMM is composed of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces and Marawi City.

Lobregat said the Arroyo government is using the policy of “divide and conquer” and “divide and rule”.

“We are for peace. We are for honorable and long lasting peace. Christians and Muslim live in harmony and peace in Zamboanga City. And we respect each other culture and religion.”

“This issue of ancestral domain again cropped up. We are appealing to the government peace panel to listen to our calls. We are part of Mindanao. We are part of the Philippines. We are Filipinos and we should thread what binds us together and not our differences. We do not believe that a juridical entity should be created out of religion or base on segregation. Here we should live together and in harmony,” Lobregat said.

Residents of Iligan City, led by Mayor Lawrence Cruz, also held a protest rally, Lobregat said. Vice Gov. Emmanuel Pinol of North Cotabato said he will also oppose any attempt to include his province in the Muslim homeland and has petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the signing of the ancestral domain accord in Kuala Lumpur.

Zamboanga City Rep. Erico Fabian also filed a similar petition on Monday at the Supreme Court.

The independent, but influential group called Peace Advocates Zamboanga (PAZ), headed by Claretian priest Angel Calvo said the signing of the ancestral domain is a big step in achieving peace in Mindanao. “It is one big step to achieving peace,” said the Spanish priest, who is also the president of the Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace in Philippines.

PAZ is a Catholic organization whose objective is the promotion of peace by strengthening good relations among Muslims and Christians, and all other peoples.

The United Opposition also called on President Gloria Arroyo to postpone the signing of the peace pact until the Supreme Court determines the legality of the agreement.

The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, appealed to Christians and Muslims in Mindanao to promote trust, understanding and cooperation, not hatred and mistrust. Rebel leaders said they will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless the demand of Muslims for self-determination is granted.

Last year, peace talks were stalled after government negotiators reneged on the ancestral-domain deal.

President Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 after deposing President Joseph Estrada. But despite the peace talks, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce accord. (Mindanao Examiner)

Christians Being Agitated To Fight Muslim Ancestral Domain Deal In Mindanao

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 4, 2008) – Christian residents in southern Philippine city of Zamboanga are being agitated to protest the inclusion of several Muslim enclaves here in a proposed Islamic homeland in Mindanao.

Local Catholic priests in their homily Sunday also urged residents to join a protest rally on Monday. In their homily, the priests said two villages largely populated by Christians would be included in the proposed Muslim homeland demanded by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which is negotiating peace with Manila.

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat also criticized Manila for including several Muslim villages here to be part of the MILF ancestral domain, including two villages where the century-old City Hall and the Fort Pilar, an open-air Catholic shrine are situated.

Lobregat, who was invited Saturday night at a Lion’s Club convention here, spoke lengthily about his opposition to the ancestral domain and the inclusion of Christian villages in the proposed Muslim homeland. He said residents had twice rejected plebiscites in the past to include the city in the Muslim autonomous region.

Government and rebel peace negotiators have reached a deal on the ancestral domain and would sign the agreement on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur which is brokering the seven-year old talks aimed at ending more than four decades of Muslim secessionist wars in Mindanao.

President Gloria Arroyo's peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon said there is need to amend the Constitution to allow referendum on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

Esperon also denied Lobregat’s claim and said only Sacol Island, about 18 nautical miles, is included in the ancestral domain. “Only Sacol is included in the ancestral domain and islanders would be given a chance whether to be part of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity or not,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said: “Included in the proposed plebiscite are the villages in Sacol Island and none in mainland Zamboanga City. We should hear the voice of the people of Sacol, which is populated by Muslims. Any plebiscite will be pursuant only to an enabling law which will be enacted by Congress.”

Sacol is one of 25 island communities largely populated by poor Muslims, mostly fishermen and seaweed farmers. Many Muslim enclaves in Zamboanga have little or no development projects at all and villagers rely mostly on foreign aid for its water and electricity sources, despite the city’s more than P2 billion savings in banks.

US government agencies such as the USAID, AMORE and GEM and the US military have been very active in providing Muslim villages in Zamboanga City with various infrastructure projects, medical missions and solar-power technology that provides electricity to homes, among others.

Cell phone text messages were also spreading about the inclusion of Zamboanga City in the Muslim ancestral domain. One text message urged citizens to resist the ancestral domain and to join Monday’s protest rally.

Many commercial stores here, mostly owned by influential Chinese businessmen and supporters of Lobregat, said they will all close at 11 a.m. on Monday to protest the inclusion of the villages to the ancestral domain. Even some journalists, who are supposed to stay neutral, have joined calls to resist the ancestral domain.

Lobregat said many Muslim village leaders are also opposed to the inclusion of their communities to the Bangsamoro homeland. However, most of these leaders are also the mayor’s allies and supporters.

But many Muslims here said they wanted to be part of the Bangsamoro homeland and are supporting the MILF peace talks. Many Muslim residents in Zamboanga City said they are discriminated by Christians. Others claimed many department stores owned by Chinese businessmen here do not hire Muslims, but Christians.

Muslim groups and peace advocates in Zamboanga City are supporting the peace talks and favored the ancestral domain. Ancestral domain is the single most important and, arguably, the thorniest issue before government and rebel peace negotiators can reach a political settlement.
Zamboanga was the former capital of the Moro province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.

Aside from Zamboanga City, the ancestral domain included the whole of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which is comprise of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao, and Maguindanao provinces and Marawi City, and also 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 Palawan Island near Mindanao.

The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity will also have sufficient control over economic resources and a structure of governance in all its territories that will allow Muslims to govern themselves in ways that are consonant with their culture and with minimal interference from Manila.

Lawrence Cruz, the mayor of Iligan City in Lanao province, said he will also hold a protest rally on Monday. Deputy Governor Emmanuel Pinol, of North Cotabato, said he will oppose any attempt to include his province to the Muslim homeland.

Pinol has asked the Supreme Court to stop the government and rebel peace negotiators from signing the agreement on the ancestral domain. Lobregat and Cruz said they would also petition the High Court to stop the signing.

The MILF on Sunday appealed to Christians and Muslims in Mindanao to promote trust, understanding and cooperation and not hatred and mistrust. The rebel group previously said it will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless its demand for self-determination is granted. Last year, peace talks were also stalled after government negotiators reneged on the ancestral domain deal.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 after deposing President Joseph Estrada in a bloodless revolution. But despite the peace talks, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce accord.

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. (Mindanao Examiner)

Manila Gives In To MILF Demand, Signs Deal On Muslim Homeland In Troubled South

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 27, 2008) – Philippine peace negotiators late Sunday rushed to make a deal with Muslim rebels and promised them ancestral homeland hours before President Gloria Arroyo is to deliver her State of the Nation Address.

Government negotiators and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels have agreed on the issue of ancestral domain and formal signing has been set next month, said Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator.

“We have already initialed the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain at ten p.m. tonight. There will be formal signing on August. The document is secured from further discussion,” Iqbal told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Kuala Lumpur where the peace talks were held.

Rebel leaders have accused the Arroyo government of reneging on previous agreements on the Muslim ancestral domain that led to the failure of the peace talks in Malaysia, which is mediating in the negotiations.

Government peace negotiators led by Rodolfo Garcia tried to change an earlier deal on the ancestral domain that led to the collapse of the talks on Friday, Iqbal said.

President Gloria Arroyo’s peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon flew Sunday to Malaysia to restart the stalled talks and eventually agreeing to the rebel demand for a separate homeland.

The MILF also wanted the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) postponed until after the peace agreement is signed. The five-province ARMM is included in the ancestral domain, including 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 in central Philippines.

The formal signing of the agreement on the ancestral domain was originally set on August 5. Arroyo has supported the proposal to postpone the ARMM polls for the peace talks to succeed. Arroyo is also expected to include the MILF peace talks in her State of the Nation Address on Monday morning.

Iqbal said the formal signing would be held in Malaysia with Esperon, Garcia and Secretary Norberto Gonzales, Arroyo’s security adviser.

Esperon said there is 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.

The MILF previously said it will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless its demand for self-determination is granted. Last year, peace talks were also stalled after government negotiators reneged on the same deal.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 after deposing President Joseph Estrada in a bloodless revolution. But despite the peace talks, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce accord.

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

The Arroyo government previously offered the MILF the whole of the Muslim autonomous region, which 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 flatly rejected the offer and insisted on self-determination.

But peace negotiators earlier this month 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. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine, MILF Peace Negotiators Approve Deal On Ancestral Domain

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 16, 2008) – Philippine peace negotiators and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels have reached an agreement late Wednesday on the issue of ancestral domain, a breakthrough in the seven-year old peace talks aimed at putting an end to more than four decades bloody fighting in Mindanao.

Philippine peace adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon said both panels have agreed on the deal at the end of meeting late Wednesday in Malaysia, which is brokering the negotiations.

“The issue on the ancestral domain is finally settled and we now go to the final peace talks where all previous agreements will be formally signed. We have informed President Gloria Arroyo about the progress of the talks and she is very elated,” Esperon told the Mindanao Examiner.

The MILF earlier in the day said the issue on the ancestral domain must be resolved immediately. It said will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless its demand for self-determination is granted.

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. And even Palawan Island in central Philippines.

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

“We have repeatedly said that we are for a peaceful solution of the problems in Mindanao. We have opened the door in order for the talks to push through and for both sides to arrive at a viable formula that will benefit us all, all for peace in Mindanao,” he said in a separate interview.

“We have been longing for the realizations and conclusion on the talks on ancestral domain and peace can now take off in our homeland,” Kabalu said.

Esperon has largely credited the success of the talks to the efforts of the President to bring about peace in the southern Philippines and the government and MILF peace panels, including the Cabinet and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for its support to the peace process.

“The President really worked hard for the peace talks to succeed and so are our soldiers who supported the primacy of the peace process,” Esperon said, adding, the peace panels would set a date for the formal signing of the agreement of the ancestral domain.

The agreement was reached more than a month after Arroyo appointed Esperon as peace adviser replacing Jesus Dureza, who is now the Press Secretary. Esperon, a former military chief, last month vowed to pursue the peace talks with the MILF and sign a peace deal before Arroyo’s term ends on 2010.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group, in 2001, but there have been no major agreement to end the insurgency in the troubled region, except for a cease-fire accord.

But despite the truce, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating the accord. In July last year, rebel forces killed 14 soldiers in a fierce battle in Basilan island after security forces encroached inside an MILF stronghold while pursuing Abu Sayyaf militants tied to Al-Qaeda.

The MILF is fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state in Mindanao Island, whose 16 million populations include about 4 million Muslims.

Manila previously offered the MILF the Muslim autonomous region, which 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 flatly rejected the offer and insisted on self-determination. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sulu, Basilan To Launch "Development" Offensives

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and his deputy Nur Ana Sahidula distribute farm implements to villagers in the province during the first H.E.L.P peace caravan last year. Sulu and Basilan provinces will launch a second H.E.L.P. peace caravan in July 17-19, 2008. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 27, 2008) – New Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has announced the start next month of the second H.E.L.P. peace caravan in the southern Philippine island of Sulu.

HELP stands for “Health, Education, Livelihood, Progress,” is a collaborative effort of national government agencies and various non-government organizations to address the immediate health, education and livelihood needs of communities affected by conflict.

The peace caravan, Esperon said, is also in collaboration with the Sulu provincial government, which played a big role in the successful launching last year of the first H.E.L.P. peace caravan which was participated by thousands of Muslims led by Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and her deputy Nur Ana Sahidulla.

Esperon said the two-day peace caravan would begin on July 17 in Sulu and this would be duplicated in Basilan province. Both Sulu and Basilan are part of the six-province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“We are currently at the forefront of a wide scale humanitarian initiative in the South, with our renewal of humanitarian and relief efforts in Sulu and Basilan,” he said.

Esperon said President Gloria Arroyo has ordered a “full-scale development offensive” in Sulu and Basilan.

“By putting all national government initiatives in Basilan and Sulu in one package, and with their economic development becoming excellent laboratories for corporate social responsibility, everything shall eventually result in a better comprehensive delivery of services,” Esperon said.

The Asia America Initiative, an international non-government organization which participated in the past peace caravan, said it will join again the next H.E.L.P. activities in Sulu.

“Our goal is to build common ground and establish sustainable social and economic development programs in some of the most impoverished areas in Southeast Asia,” said AAI’s Albert Santoli.

He said contributors to AAI's Education and Livelihood activities in the second peace caravan include, Unilever Corporation, Universal Robina Corporation, Nestle, SM Supermarkets, the Franklin Fund, the Strake Foundation, MedPharm and numerous college and university student organizations.

Tan said the H.E.L.P. is a mechanism designed to address the needs of communities in crisis due to the prevailing conflict in the area. He said the H.E.L.P initiative is also aimed at consulting with the local communities on their medium and long term concerns particularly on livelihood and employment aspect.

“We are consistent with our programs and we hope to help as much people in the second H.E.L.P. peace caravan. This is what we wanted to show the world, the good things we are doing and the efforts of this government to bring peace and development to Sulu province.”

“We ask the help of the media to spread the good news and not picture Sulu as strife-torn or haven for terrorists. Sulu is a beautiful place and we have a rich culture and heritage and as am matter of fact, the Yuchengo Museum in Makati is currently holding an exhibit about our colorful past and historical artifacts,” Tan said.

Tan was referring to the the exhibit dubbed “Beyond the Currents: The Culture and Power of Sulu,” at the Cone Gallery which runs until July 23.

Aside from artifacts, the exhibit also displays an interesting collection of documents, like treaties written in both English and Arabic. These treaties embody the negotiating points between the Sulu sovereign and the various imperial powers of the time.

Last year, Tan launched the "Fruits of Hope program" in partnership with the AAI and the Philippine National Red Cross and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The Fruits of Hope program was a model for reconciliation and terror prevention through creating livelihood opportunities in agricultural and fisheries-based communities. Because of the program, Sulu was able to shipped about six tons of assorted fruits bought from farmers and agricultural cooperatives and sold to supermarkets in Manila. (Mindanao Examiner)

Military Rally Behind New Arroyo Peace Adviser

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 24, 2008) – Military commanders in Mindanao vowed to support the new government peace adviser, Hermogenes Esperon, former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Philippine leader Gloria Arroyo last week named Esperon as the new Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, a post previously held by Jesus Dureza, now Press Secretary. Esperon, 56, retired early this month ending decades of glorious past from being a decorated combat commander in the strife-torn Mindanao to peace builder in Sulu.

“From being a military commander to peace maker, we know Secy. Hermogenes Esperon will certainly work hard to achieve lasting peace in Mindanao. He knows the problem in Mindanao very well because he had told us many times in the past that the only solution to insurgency problems is peace and development.”

“Secy. Esperon had always told us to support the government peace process because fighting is not the solution to the problems of Mindanao. The solution, he said always, is sincerity to the peace process and peace we shall achieve, he would always say. And Secy. Esperon served well during his time as military chief and we see peace finally coming,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division in Mindanao, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Ando said the soldiers are also behind Esperon and supportive of the government peace process.

Manila is currently negotiating peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in the South. Besides the MILF, the government is trying to revive peace talks with the communist New People’s Army rebels, which is also fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the Philippines.

The MILF said it would want to see the resumption of the stalled peace talks and how Esperon would be able to help in finding a just and lasting solution to the Muslim insurgency problems in Mindanao.

In Zamboanga City, the Western Mindanao Command, which secures half of the southern Philippines, also threw its support to Esperon, who was previously the chief of the now defunct Southern Command.

“We knew how the General put his efforts in maintaining peace in Mindanao. He would be the last military commander who would want to see fighting in the southern Philippines and that is why troops are elated when they learned that General Esperon has been named as the new Presidential peace adviser.”

“General Esperon has that knowledge and experiences on how to maintain peace and security in Mindanao. He advocated peace in the past and it never changes, it is sill there, peace, he will always tell the soldiers, can be achieved if we work altogether to achieve it,” Maj. Eugene Batara, the spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command, said.

And the commitment to support the government peace process remains strong among soldiers in the other parts of the South.

In Davao City, home to the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, spokesman Col. Roland Bautista said troops also wanted peace in the troubled region and not fighting with rebels.

“Our soldiers want peace. We do not want any fighting. We want peace to reign in Mindanao so we can help and work together in developing this beautiful region of Mindanao. General Esperon, being the former chief of the Philippine military, can really do a lot to achieve lasting peace and our troops are united behind him as the new government peace adviser,” Bautista said.

In Sulu, the provincial governor Sakur Tan has praised Esperon because of his efforts in bringing peace and development in the island-province, one of six that comprises the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“The man has really worked hard to achieve peace in Sulu and helped us a lot when he was the Armed Forces chief through many partnership projects such as roads and schools and other humanitarian efforts."

"Our support is solidly behind Secy. Hermogenes Esperon and we continuously support the peace and development efforts of President Gloria Arroyo and the ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan,” Tan said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Defense Chief, Umalma Kontra People's Tribunal

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 27 Mar) – Hindi nagustuhan ngayon ng liderato ng Department of National Defense (DND) ang pagdidiin ng people's court ng The Hague, Netherlands sa militar bilang responsable sa extrajudicial killings sa bansa.

Ayon kay Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., maituturing na international kangaroo court ang Permanent People's Tribunal, isang independent opinion body, matapos na humusga rin sa pamahalaang Arroyo bilang guilty sa human rights violations at economic plunder.

"What is that, an international kangaroo court?" ani Ebdane sa pulong balitaan.

Iginiit ni Ebdane na hindi naman nabigyan ng pagkakataon ang gobyerno upang ipahayag ang panig nito sa naturang usapin kundi pawang mga militanteng grupo lamang ang nakapanayam ng naturang people's tribunal.

Samantala, naniniwala naman si Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. na mabigat na paratang ang ibinigay ng The Hague laban sa mga awtoridad ng bansa.

Ipinapahiwatig pa nito ang posibleng pakikisabwat rin ng ilang militanteng organisasyon sa PPT upang tuluyan idiin ang militar at gobyerno sa mga political killing.

Gayunman, naninindigan si Esperon sa mahigpit na pagkondena sa mga pagpaslang sa Pilipinas at hindi ito kinukunsinti ng AFP. Una na ring idiin ng United Nations rapporteur ang AFP sa extrajudicial killings. (Juley Reyes)