Friday, September 05, 2008 Bishops seek ouster of Esperon
ASIDE from dissolving the panel negotiating the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), some bishops are also asking for the removal of former Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. as presidential peace adviser.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of the government peace panel after she decided to pursue a new paradigm in finding lasting peace in Mindanao involving not only the MILF but also the communities.
Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Bagaforo said the President should replace Esperon for having failed in the peace negotiation with the MILF.
"What we called for is a total revamp of the peace team... I think he (Esperon) has to go too because of all the things that have happened," Bagaforo said.
He stressed that new members of the peace panel should be credible.
"I am sure we have vast resources of new people who can rise up to the challenges in the positions," he said.
Like Bagaforo, Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez pushed for the replacement of the peace panel's composition.
Gutierrez said new members of the peace panel should be composed of the Mindanao people who can really understand the situation in the region.
He said local officials in Mindanao could be good members of the panel considering their knowledge of the peace process and the concerns of the stakeholders.
At the same time, Bagaforo urged the President to give the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) a more active participation in the consultation process with regard to the peace negotiations.
"The BUC from the very beginning has been there. We are open to be consultant as observer, but they never called us for that matter," he said.
"We appeal to the President, if the peace negotiations will push through, to also include the BUC," Bagaforo added.
He said in creating the new peace panel, there should be public consultation in order to prevent a repeat of what happened to the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) between the government and the MILF.
"Next time in choosing the members of the peace panel, we should set aside personal ambitions and personal interests; and make sure that they can serve only about the common good," he added. (MSN/Sunnex)
