Tuesday, September 02, 2008 Government slams door on peace process By Edwin G. Espejo Contributor
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- By adopting a new tact in its negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Arroyo administration has apparently shut the door to the peace process in Mindanao.
On Sunday, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza told military officials in Central Mindanao that the government is already abandoning negotiations for a political settlement with the Moro rebel group.
"We will negotiate only in the context of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR)," the press secretary said.
He said the government should not be held hostage to the peace process while the other party "is pulling the trigger."
Dureza arrived in General Santos City Sunday and held meetings with local government officials.
Asked if the government is ready for the escalation of hostilities, the press secretary said "we will bite the bullet."
President Gloria Macapagal reportedly ordered the Armed Forces Sunday to continue with the military operations against "lawless MILF elements" even during Ramadhan.
Muslims all over the world are observing a month-long tradition of fasting starting Tuesday.
Dureza however said the government will continue to hold consultation with Moro leaders and civil society groups.
"If the MILF wants to join the process, we will welcome them. But there is no room for peace talks while their (MILF) field commanders are attacking civilians," he told officers of the 1002nd Brigade based in Malungon, Sarangani.
Dureza was head of the government peace panel when the two parties agreed in principle last year on the Moro ancestral domain claim.
Former Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon replaced Dureza when he was appointed press secretary.
It was under Esperon's watch when the government peace panel initialed a document that defined the Moro homeland.
But widespread opposition to the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) led the Arroyo government to backtrack.
MILF chief negotiator Mohaqher Iqbal has said they are no longer confident that a peace accord will be reached with the Arroyo administration.
He warned of a "full blown war" after the government announced it will no longer sign the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).
Fighting broke out in several provinces in Mindanao after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order that prevented the government from signing the MOA-AD in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia early last month.
Scores of civilians were killed when "renegade" MILF commanders attacked several towns in Lanao del Norte and Sarangani.
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Front in Mindanao slammed the Arroyo government for laying the groundwork for an all-out war "against the Moro people."
NDF-Mindanao spokesman Jorge Madlos, alias Ka Oris, said the Arroyo government "cannot be trusted to honor a signed agreement."
"(The MOA-AD was) designed not to be implemented but to provoke the MILF and thus create a flimsy excuse to use brute force to frustrate the aspiration for a Bangsamoro homeland," Ka Oris said in a statement mailed to the local media here.
The NDF said it is "standing by its commitment to the MILF and the Moro people in pursuing a genuine right to self-determination."
