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Friday, July 18, 2008
Moro rebels want Armm polls postponed
MANILA (Updated 12 p.m.) -- Muslim rebels talking peace with the government asked Friday to postpone the forthcoming election in the autonomous region in difference to the ongoing peace talks.
However, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo said the poll body couldn't just postpone the August 11 elections without the supporting legislation from Congress.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
"At this time, I think it is too late I suppose (Armm elections postponement). Congress will be resuming its session only on July 28. I think there is no need really to postpone. We can go on with the elections now and it will not be in any way a roadblock to any peace talks or whatever arrangements which may come about," Melo said.
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal pointed out that election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) has direct bearing on the current peace talks, citing the following reasons:
* Pushing through with the election would create the impression that the government is not really serious in the present talks and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is not really determined to wind up the talks during her term of office;
* It will postpone the start of the transition period of the future Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) once the government and the MILF sign the Comprehensive Compact because elected local officials of the Armm will have to finish first their term of office in 2011. Other local officials in the provinces, municipalities or cities purported to be included in the area of the BJE will finish their terms of office in 2010. President Arroyo's term would end in June 2010.
Iqbal's contentions was further argued by lawyer Datu Michael Mastura, a senior member of the MILF peace panel, saying the need to postpone the Armm election as a clear manifestation of President Arroyo's policy of the "primacy of the peace process".
Mastura, however, made it very clear that the MILF is not against the candidacy of anyone in the Armm, especially Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan and Bombet Adiong, currently the regional governor and vice regional governor, respectively.
Peace negotiators of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) recently settled the remaining three issues on governance of the ancestral domain aspect of the Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001.
Hermogenes Esperon, President Arroyo's top adviser on the peace process, said a one-day executive meeting of the two peace panels was held in Malaysia, which has brokered the peace negotiations and led an international truce team in the troubled southern Philippines.
Esperon said the two sides resolved a sticking point in the critical issue of ancestral domain and that negotiators would meet again on July 24 to set a date for the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA), with formal peace talks to resume afterward.
They agreed to expand the territory of the Armm with the addition of 712 predominantly Muslim villages Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Palawan, subject to a plebiscite six months after the deal is signed, Esperon told a news conference.
The agreement also calls for Muslim control of forest and mineral resources up to 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) from the shoreline, with resources beyond that point but still within Philippine territory to be shared, with 75 percent going to the autonomous region, Esperon said.
Ancestral domain, which is the last aspect of the Tripoli Agreement of 2001, has been in the agenda of GRP-MILF Peace Talks for more than three years since December 2004.
Long impasses, lingering word war, and even escalating fighting on the ground almost led to the collapse of the talks. Recently, the MILF has been accused of conducting at least 40 incidents of sabotage, ambuscade and attack. Similarly, the MILF listed about the same number of violations perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Arroyo lauded the breakthrough, telling dzBB radio that it was reached because of a mutual desire for peace.
"When peace comes to Mindanao, speedy and just progress will also come," she added.
Esperon said there should be some unification between the MILF and the older Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that signed a peace pact with the government in 1996 and which controls the current Muslim autonomous region encompassing five provinces and one city.
The rebel forces warned last Friday that a five-year-old truce could collapse unless the two sides resumed formal talks. US and Philippine officials hope a peace pact can transform the southern Philippines into a booming economic hub instead of combat zones that are a breeding ground for terrorism.
The peace talks foundered in December when the rebels' negotiators walked away from a meeting to protest Manila's position on the constitution.
With an estimated 11,000 fighters, the rebel group is the largest Muslim group battling for self-rule in the southern Philippines and has been active for decades. (AP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (July 18, 2008 issue)
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