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Monday, May 12, 2008
Arroyo on warpath, not for peace: MILF
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) accused the Arroyo administration of deliberately reverting to war as majority of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team members started its pull out Saturday.
But Malacanang in a statement on Sunday enjoined everyone to remain calm as the Arroyo administration reiterate its commitment to moving the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forward.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
In a report by www.luwaran.com, the MILF accused President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of "consistently refusing to honor and abide by the 49 consensus points or so on ancestral domain, which the government and MILF peace negotiators have patiently and jointly crafted, agreed and signed for more than three years since December 2004 when ancestral domain issue was put on the agenda of the talks for the first time."
The rebel secessionist group said Tripoli Agreement on Peace on June 2001 contained three aspects namely, security (ceasefire), rehabilitation and humanitarian and ancestral domain.
"The first two aspects were hurdled by the parties including their implementing guidelines as early as May 2002, but ancestral domain remained untouched after more than two years. The government persisted to elude the issue and table it for discussion," the MILF said.
"President Arroyo is reversing her policy from all-out peace policy to all-out war," Muhammad Ameen, chairperson of the MILF Secretariat said.
"We will never stop waging peace in Mindanao. Without peace, there can be no progress," said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye in reaction to Ameen’s claim that President Arroyo has already reversed her all out peace policy to an all out war policy.
Bunye stressed that pursuing and achieving peace in Mindanao, aside from being one of the 10-point agenda of the administration, is a key to the development and progress of the country's southern provinces.
The Palace also asked all parties to avoid making unnecessary statements that may stoke anxiety and lodge fear among the people.
Romeo Montenegro, spokesman of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) on the MILF peace talks, said such allegations is uncalled for and would not bode well for the peace efforts.
"These times require sober calls for calm and restraint on the part of everybody and not feed on the public's apprehensions. Statements that stoke the anxieties and fears of our people do not serve the interest of peace," Montenegro said.
He added that the government is committed to upholding the primacy of the peace process and believes that squandering "the gains in the peace negotiations thus far achieved, is definitely not an option for the government."
He believed that the MILF shares this view despite current "difficulties" faced in the negotiations.
Asked whether the MILF is prepared for war, Ameen said, "We do not like war, war is a menace to everyone, but for those who want peace to prevail must prepare for war."
Malaysian peacekeepers meanwhile began its phased withdrawal from Mindanao, raising worries that decades of Muslim rebellion may resume.
Twenty-eight of 41 Malaysian soldiers and police officers were reportedly picked up by two army transport planes in three areas in Mindanao and were flown to a base in the Malaysian province of Sabah.
The remnants of the 60-member International Monitoring Team (IMT), including 10 soldiers from Brunei, eight from Libya and a Japanese development worker, are also expected to pack their bags and go home by the end of August.
On the other hand, Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo reiterated that the Arroyo government would continue the peace talks but without reneging on its constitutional duty of protecting the state and its interests against its "enemies".
Fajardo stressed that government firmly believes that "talk is better than war" denying that the government had reverted to war.
"It is the desire of this administration to pursue the path of peace we are optimistic that this can still be achieved with the MILF. We caution, however, that such unfounded accusation will not help in attaining peace with the MILF," she said. (With reports from JMR/Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila. (May 12, 2008 issue)
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