Friday, October 31, 2008 MILF wants int'l guarantee before resuming peace talks By Edwin G. Espejo Contributor
SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao -- Learning their lessons from the failed MOA-AD signing, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leaders on Tuesday said they are willing to return to the negotiating table for as long as there is "an international guarantee."
MILF vice chair Ghazali Jaafar said any bilateral agreement between the government and the MILF should be made binding before the international community and should not be unilaterally disowned by one party.
Jaafar was referring to the failed signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) in August which led to the flare up of fighting between government troops and MILF rebels in many parts in Mindanao.
The Arroyo administration has since declared that it would no longer pursue the signing of the MOA-AD after opposition to the document erupted and the Supreme Court declared the agreement unconstitutional.
Jaafar said that in agreeing to sign a ceasefire agreement and negotiating for a political settlement with the Philippine government, they have in effect dropped their secessionist goal.
He said they are willing to sign and honor a document stating that they will not secede from the Philippine territory.
But he also insisted that the government honor its commitment to give the Moro people their own homeland by way of an ancestral domain title.
"We cannot get domestic relief (from this government)," Jaafar said in insisting that an international body be made signatory to whatever agreement the Philippine government and the MILF will reach.
The MILF vice chair mentioned the European Union (EU) as a possible guarantor in the talks.
Jaafar blamed several politicians and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the non-signing of the MOA-AD.
He particularly mentioned Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Pinol, Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat, and Iligan Mayor Lawrence Cruz.
Although both the government and the MILF insist that the ceasefire agreement is still in effect, military pursuit of MILF commanders who initiated attacks have resulted io fierce skirmishes, leaving scores of civilians dead and thousands of families displaced from their homes.
Meanwhile, the MILF also appealed to the United Nations to set up an observer office and establish evacuation centers in Central Mindanao to look into the plight of displaced communities.
"The MILF leadership is calling on the UN to look into the situation (of evacuees) before this develops into an international humanitarian crisis," Jaafar said.
