Monday, September 01, 2008 Duterte: Gov't erred in making territorial deal
DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte slammed members of the government peace panel for agreeing by themselves on the terms of the memorandum of agreement for ancestral domain (MOA-AD) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The agreement, which was scrapped by the Supreme Court (SC), resulted to deaths of civilians and soldiers and displacement of tens of thousands poor residents from central, northern, and western Mindanao.
"Now who's to blame?" Duterte rhetorically asked during the "Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa" television program, referring to the effects that the MOA-AD has brought upon the people of Mindanao.
Duterte said the members of the government peace panel should have known what they were entering into when they were still drafting the MOA-AD
Upon learning of the MOA-AD, local government units (LGUs) in Mindanao have immediately sought for the intervention of the SC on the matter, causing unrest among the ranks of the MILF, and the military waging war against renegade groups of the rebel group.
Hundreds of people - civilians, soldiers, and rebels - have been killed, while thousands have been displaced from their homes, while the rest of Mindanao is adversely affected with the fear that a bomb may erupt anytime soon.
Duterte said he himself has all the right to react since Davao City is part of Mindanao and everyone is affected by the repercussions the botched deal has created.
The city mayor also lambasted the government peace panel for not being transparent and for not consulting the people who will be affected by the MOA-AD.
Duterte, however, clarified that he is still for the creation of a Bangsamoro state, as he has previously stated. "But the process is wrong," he said, adding that such a mistake should have been improbable since there are lawyers who are members of the government peace panel.
Paramount in crafting the Bangsamoro state is a continuous dialogue with the residents. The GRP panel opted to work in secrecy and ended up with a MOA-AD that has sparked off enmity anew. (CPM)
