Monday, January 14, 2008 Gonzales still upbeat on RP-MILF peace talks
NATIONAL Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales believes that the government's peace negotiation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is still holding and it would yield positive results.
The Armed Forces, on the other hand, remains optimistic on the peace negotiations, which hit a snag last month on the issue of ancestral domain.
In an interview in Davao City Saturday, Gonzales said they are now holding back channel talks with the MILF to thresh out the current impasse in the GRP-MILF peace talks.
He maintained that for it to prosper, the two panels must agree that all they would agree on must be "within the Constitution".
"If what they're asking is outside the Constitution, then we cannot give it to them," Gonzales said.
He said in as much as they wanted to finally ink an agreement with the MILF before 2010, the government, however, could not accommodate demands that would mean sacrificing the integrity of the Constitution.
"Halimbawa, gusto ng MILF isali ang Sultan Kudarat sa area nila but we have first to consult the people if they wanted that. That is what the Constitution mandates," Gonzales said.
Despite the impasse, Gonzales said the "attitude of wanting to agree" between the two panels is still high, thus he is not alarmed of the present situation.
"Di pa tapos ang usapan, yan ang status ng peace talks ngayon," Gonzales said.
On some government officials warning of possible renewal of armed offensives by the government against the MILF if the impasse continues, Gonzales said the "bias of both the government and the MILF is towards peace and not war".
"I don't think that war, as an option, is being discussed at all," he said.
Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr., for his part, noted that there were less skirmishes between government and MILF forces last year.
The MILF's bailiwick is Central Mindanao, but it has forces in Basilan.
"For the MILF, we have seen for the year (2007) less of atrocities those were committed between the troops of the MILF and with the armed forces. In fact what has prevailed is an environment of cooperation and willingness to develop more areas especially in the conflict affected areas," said Esperon.
The Arroyo administration pursued the peace negotiations with the MILF after the talks bogged down when former President Joseph Estrada ordered an all-out war against the group in 2000 that led into the seizure of dozens of MILF camps, including their headquarters Camp Abubakar.
"For the MILF, we are confident that positive developments will come out from the peace process and so as in 2007, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will again give primacy to the peace process," the military chief also said of the secessionist group.
Peace negotiations between the government and the MILF hit the snag last December when the MILF negotiators expressed disgust over the proposal of their government counterpart to subject the creation of the Bangsamoro Judiciary Entity to a plebiscite.
However, government negotiators, led by former Armed Forces vice chief of staff Rodolfo Garcia, are still optimistic that the peace process would soon resume and that a final peace accord would soon be signed with the MILF. (BOT with Sunnex)
