Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Gov't shouldn't get blame for Malaysian IMT pullout By Gigie A. Agtay
THE government rejects allegations that it is to be blamed for the slow-paced peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that has resulted in the withdrawal of Malaysia from the International Monitoring Team (IMT).
In a text message, Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Jesus Dureza said "the government, while committed to push the peace process forward, is not delaying but doing due diligence in completing the government's first final draft of the ancestral domain agreement to ensure that it is implementable and defensible from attacks of unconstitutionality."
"While we understand the apparent impatience of some sectors, the government cannot treat these pending issues in a cavalier manner or with undue haste," Dureza said.
The Philippine panel headed by Secretary Rodolfo Garcia, Dureza said, has been doing work on the government draft without letup.
"If there is any sector most interested to resolve these problems, it is the government," he said. "Let no one, wheteher foreign or domestic elements, publicly posture as if they are more interested than us in a peaceful settlement with our rebels.”
Dureza assured that the government is doing its best with utmost due diligence.
"We appeciate the help of the Malaysians in our peace process and we respect and accept their latest decision. We hope that they will continue to support our peace and development efforts," he said.
Malaysia would initially withdraw 21 of its 30-man contingent in the IMT starting May 10.
Meanwhile, Bantay Ceasefire -- a group of about 650 peace advocates from southern Philippines -- said the withdrawal of Malaysia from IMT is regrettable.
Dissatisfied?
"Malaysia could have been dissatisfied with the outcome of the ongoing peace talks," a Bantay Ceasefire statement said.
Lawyer Mary Ann Arnado of Bantay Ceasefire said, "Until today, the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain issues has not been signed by both parties. And the Malaysian government is worried that the talks could again start from square one. That might have frustrated them so they're pulling out," said Arnado in an interview over Catholic-ran DXND in Cotabato City.
It is also likely that representatives from Brunei and Japan will also withdraw from the IMT, according to Arnado, also executive director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID).
Lobby activities organized by Mindanao Peaceweavers are scheduled at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the (IID) IMT team Site 5 office in Belisario Heights, Lanang, Davao City and 3 p.m. at Malaysian Consulate. They hoped to initiate a dialogue with IMT offcials and Malaysian consulate representatives and ask them to reconsider the decision to pull out the Malaysian officials from IMT in Mindanao.
Skirmishes seen
"If the pullout happens, then it is also likely that wars could again erupt in Mindanao," the statement said. "The pullout will clearly have dire consequences on the lives of people in conflict-affected areas [in Mindanao]."
The group said it witnessed how the presence of the IMT had dramatically improved the lives of civilians.
The track record of the IMT in the last four years will show it is crucial to the mechanism for cessation of hostilities and to the peace process.
Before the IMT arrived, there were two all-out wars in years 2000 and 2003 that displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Before that, there were major fighting in Camps Omar and Rajamuda in North Cotabato.
Since the set-up of the IMT, no major fighting or all-out war between government troops and the MILF occurred.
In 2007, the IMT averted a full-blown war.
Records of the Joint Ceasefire Committee will show that prior to the coming of the IMT, there were over a thousand violations of the ceasefire agreement in 2003 and 2004.
In 2005, however, these violations significantly dropped to less than 10 violations. The group has attributed this outstanding record to the strong presence of the IMT together of course with the hard work and commitment of the joint government and MILF ceasefire committee. (With reports from Malu C. Manar)
