Saturday, July 28, 2007 Editorial: Peace talks venue
THE decision to offer Cagayan de Oro as a neutral ground for any negotiations between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will have to be weighed carefully with paramount importance given not only to the safety of the residents but also to the question of whether such talks are viable and can produce concrete results.
If not, then it is merely a waste of time, effort and money, which the City Government doesn't have but obviously the two sides in the conflict have in abundance owing to their sponsors of course.
Publicity windfall aside, the talks would certainly draw lots of negotiators and of course money pouring in terms of hotel occupancy, security provisions and what have you.
The bigger question first lies in whether the resulting offensives in Basilan will spill over and cause the talks to collapse without any chance of revival.
At the last minute, both the national government and the MILF appear willing to pursue avenues of peace with only the issue of turning over the people responsible for the massacre of the 14 or so Marines becoming the stumbling block for any peaceful resolution.
If they can do that without having to resort to any negotiations in some venue then so much the better.
Because negotiations that are transparent yet done with much little fanfare and publicity is much better than talks that are held amid so much hoopla yet fail to achieve any substantial progress other than the expected publicity enhancement of the political careers of some politicians out there.
Not that we're accusing City Hall's top officials of trying to ingratiate themselves to the public through this offering of Cagayan de Oro as a site for the peace talks negotiations.
And we're not saying that the city is incapable of hosting such talks judging by the recent two-day Mindanao Peace Summit.
By all means let's pursue whatever alternatives are out there for peace without having to compromise justice for the slain victims.
Though hosting such peace talks in time for the city fiesta would certainly place a security strain on the police and the military which is assigned to guard vital government installations elsewhere.
But if the city police is hard-pressed enough to secure the city from carnappers, robbers and other criminal elements as complained big time by local radio stations, then how can one expect them to secure the city for the duration of the peace talks even with the military at his side?
First off City Hall should continue cleaning up its backyard first before looking to offer Cagayan de Oro as the venue for this proposed peace talks. And looking at the Barangay 6 fire just this week, it seems they are doing just that though that is another matter altogether.
