Tuesday, July 22, 2008 MILF sneers at Puno's ancestral domain opinion By Ben O. Tesiorna
THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) advised Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno to refrain from interpreting too far and distorting the real context of the ancestral domain issue.
In a report by www.luwaran.com, MILF deputy chairman for information Khaled Musa said Puno's statement "might spoil the gains of the talks."
"What is left vague should not be interpreted by one party only, or we will be left with no choice but to defend our perspective in the media. This will not help the peace process, but will only feed the appetite of the spoilers," Musa warned.
Musa was reacting to statements attributed to Puno published last July 19 on a news website (not Sun.Star Network Online) saying that: "The government peace panel offered 'nothing' to the MILF to convince it to agree to the holding of the plebiscite."
"The government panel made it clear to the MILF that 'the matter of plebiscite is not negotiable'. Now that the MILF agreed to plebiscite -- the MILF acknowledged the Constitution, they affirmed they are not seceding. That is the direct effect," Puno was quoted as saying.
Musa appealed to Puno "not to engage in contextual spinning to gain undue advantage against the MILF and at the expense of truth."
Despite the recent agreement between the government and the MILF on the ancestral domain issue, many are still apprehensive over the agreements made.
