Wednesday, September 27, 2006 Editorial: Deadlock in talks
THE peace talks between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) hit a snag recently over the sensitive issue of land and it is this aspect of the peace talks that is perhaps the heart of the conflict in the first place.
However, one would commit the grievous mistake of oversimplifying the talks by saying that it's all land and not about the years of failure by the national government to address injustices committed against the Bangsamoro people such as continuing neglect to respect their culture and laws and the dislocation of a lot of their own due to incursions both in war and in droves by Christian settlers into their lands.
That said, it cannot be denied that land plays a crucial role in perhaps settling most of the issues in the peace talks. Unfortunately, land is not readily available for allotment as the two sides found out.
If we go by the early reports the MILF side is supposedly claiming lands that have been declared as ancestral domain by the lumad tribes. As a result, the land issue caused the two sides to temporarily suspend negotiations pending the resolution of this matter.
Early in the talks however there were indications that the ancestral domain claims would figure prominently as a major stumbling pluck in the peace talks.
Government negotiators continue to skip the issue altogether and this had been pointed out by lumad groups.
With the suspension of peace talks there are worries over what steps to take in order to resuscitate negotiations such as perhaps urging representatives from the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to convince the MILF peace panel on the ancestral domain claims.
However these proposals take a backseat over the growing concerns by the military on what they suspect is the increased buildup of arms by the MILF in anticipation of renewed hostilities.
While they are careful not to make any direct announcements, the MILF leaders are nevertheless sounding off warnings by stating that a bigger confrontation or outbreak of violence may occur unless the deadlock in the talks is broken.
By being careful the MILF leaders are saying they won't initiate the violence. But suspicious minds think otherwise and fear an escalation of violence is imminent.
One thing perhaps all sides agree on is that the deadlock in the talks must be resolved. The question is how. Perhaps a compromise is possible but this may be done only if lumad groups are in the picture.
That said government and the MILF must play by the rules of a truce and ensure that all efforts are exerted to avoid any violence while the kinks are being worked out.
It's the only way to contain and cool off an otherwise potentially explosive situation. Options are still available and both sides must tap them to the fullest since they owe this to the Filipino people.
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