MILF: Hopes of Peace Diminishing by the Day

RELATED STORIES

NAVIGATE: Home » All Entries, Current Events, Main Stories, Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), News, Politics, Readings » MILF: Hopes of Peace Diminishing by the Day

PUBLISHED ON May 18, 2008 AT 7:53 AM

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 15, May 18-24, 2008

For Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Negotiating Panel, Malaysia’s pullout from the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in the peace talks with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) means that the negotiations are “shaky on the ground.”

The IMT - which is composed of delegates from Malaysia, Brunei and Libya - was deployed to several areas in Mindanao in 2004. Malaysia, which facilitates the GRP-MILF peace negotiations, had the biggest contingent in the 60-member IMT.

An initial group of 29 Malaysian delegates left Mindanao on May 10. The remaining 12 are set to follow by August.

Malaysian facilitator Othman Abdul Razak was reported as saying on May 3 that the GRP-MILF peace negotiations “will not move forward” if the GRP kept insisting that the talks be conducted in accordance with “constitutional processes.”

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, who is part of the government’s national security cluster, has admitted that the Malaysian team’s pullout is an “obstacle” that would have a “psychological impact” on the peace negotiations, even as he stressed that “all is not lost here.” This, even as he told reporters of the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the MILF’s demands “could lead to secession.”

“We cannot balkanize the Philippines,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Gonzalez as saying in a May 5 report. “We cannot allow an East Timor or an Aceh situation.

The government’s attitude in the peace negotiations was criticized by a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Mindanao.

“I don’t know about the government,” said Bp. Dinualdo Gutierrez in an interview over Catholic Church-run Radio Veritas earlier this month. “It seems their political will is questionable.”

Meanwhile, the British government has recently offered to send experts who were involved in the peace talks in Northern Ireland to help in the GRP-MILF negotiations. “The MILF and the Philippine government said they’d welcome someone who could talk about what happened in Northern Ireland because there are similarities,” said British Ambassador Peter Beckingham.

In this interview with Bulatlat, Iqbal expresses his observations on these developments. Following is the full text of the interview:

What can you say about Razak’s statement blaming the Philippine government for the stalling of the peace negotiations?

He is speaking the truth. A good referee, as in boxing, always takes the side of those who are in the right. He will always reprimand those who punch below the belt.

The GRP has been delaying the talks, the latest of which is the composition of a team of lawyers to review the legality or constitutionality of the agreed draft memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain, which the GRP and MILF peace negotiators have managed to settle when Datuk Othman shuttled between Manila and Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on Feb. 19-22, 2008.

Pages: 1 2

RSS feed • Subscribe via email • Discuss

Leave a Comment (Moderated)

THE NEWS IN PICTURES

End The War. Members of the youth group Anakbayan denounce the war being waged by the government in Mindanao against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. (Photo: arkibongbayan.org)

Where Are They? Relatives, friends and colleagues of victims of enforced disappearances commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared with lighted lanterns and photographs at the Plaza Miranda and in Mendiola on Aug. 30. (Photo: arkibongbayan.org)

Free at Last. The so-called Tagaytay 5 -- Aris Sarmiento, Axel Pinpin, Riel Custodio, Michael Masayes and Rico Ybañez -- shown here inside their prison cell during their incarceration, were freed yesterday. “The dismissal of trumped-up charges and release of Tagaytay 5 is a victory for human rights,” said Ruth Cervantes, Karapatan's public information officer. (Photo: freetagaytay5.net)

Displaced. Residents of North Cotabato have been the ones badly affected by the military offensives launched against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. "As the government continues to indiscriminately drop bombs on Moro and Christian villages in Aleosan and Pikit, more and more civilians are displaced," said Kawagib, a Moro human-rights group.(Photo: Suara Bangsamoro/arkibongbayan.org)

In One Roof. Villagers who fled their homes after the clashes last week between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the south brought every human life with them, including their farm animals. They now live under one roof at an evacuation center in Pikit, North Cotabato. (Photo: Bong Sarmiento / Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project)

Emergency. A scene from "Ambulancia," a short film that tells of a painful twist in an ambulance driver's belief that a dying patient can be saved by running over stray animals on the streets. The award-winning film will be screened at the so-called "Woodstock of short films" in Germany. Richard Legaspi directed the film and it stars Alan Paule and Nor Domingo. (Contributed photo)

Sendoff. The Philippine Army dispatched today, Aug. 10, the 68th Infantry Battalion to Maguindanao. This battalion, together with the 46th Infantry Battalion from Samar, will augment the troops in Central Mindanao for the security operations that will be conducted to ensure peaceful elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao tomorrow. (Photo: Philippine Army)

Killings Denounced. Mindanao journalists gathered in General Santos City on Friday to denounce the recent attacks on their colleagues. On Monday, Dennis Cuesta, a Radio Mindanao Network commentator in General Santos, was shot and is fighting for his life. On Thursday, another RMN broadcaster, Martin Roxas of Capiz City, was shot dead. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

If This Wall Could Talk. With the pleasant scenery as a backdrop (and a constant reminder, perhaps, of a life they could have had), this poor family try to survive by actually living by the sidewalk outside the Chinese school in Davao City. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

Undaunted. Activists from Anakbayan scuffle with the police as the Chevrolet Suburban carrying President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo passes by the junction before the newly built Bankerohan bridge in Davao City last week. The president was in the city for the declaration of the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi parties. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

Freedom Denied. Lex Adonis, a former broadcaster of Bombo Radyo in Davao City, inside the Davao Penal Colony, where he was jailed after House Speaker Prospero Nograles sued him for libel over a story involving the Davao congressman's alleged sexual relations with a woman other than his wife. Despite a court order, Adonis remains in jail. (File photo by davaotoday.com)

Tribute to Ka Bel. Activists, artists, friends and supporters troop to the Philippine Independent Church on Taft Avenue Monday night to honor AnakPawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, who died last week. Beltran will be buried in Bulacan today, after a ceremony honoring him at the House of Representatives, where he served for several terms as party-list congressman. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/pinoypress.net)

Rare Sight. Moro women students of a madrasah play volleyball during a break in barangay Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, last week. While Filipina Moros are considered relatively open in their lifestyle compared to Muslim women in other countries, scenes like this are not very common in Moro areas in Mindanao. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)

Ka Bel's Fight. An activist mourns the death of AnakPawis Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran, who died Tuesday. Ka Bel's remains lie in state at the IFI Cathedral in Manila. His colleagues, family and friends have lined up a series of tributes. Click here for the schedules, as well as statements and poems honoring Ka Bel. (Photo by courtesy of arkibongbayan)