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Sunday, August 03, 2008
Gov't, MILF to ink pact on ancestral domain in Malaysia
DAVAO CITY -- The signing of the controversial agreement on ancestral domain between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will be held at Marriott Hotel in Putrajaya, Selangor, Malaysia, reports said.
The MILF peace panel has released the guidelines and schedule of activities for the formal signing ceremony on August 5.
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The guidelines stipulate that guests and other participants will be issued identification cards (ID). Those without IDS will not be allowed entry to the session hall.
The advisory further said it is allotting two slots to non-government organizations (NGOs) jointly accredited by the parties, while those nominated by the government or MILF are allowed to have only one slot for each NGO.
Members of the media, whether local or international, will register for accreditation at a center in or near the Marriott Hotel provided for by the secretariat.
Registration starts on August 4, while the opening session for the signing ceremony will start at 9 a.m. on August 5.
North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol however issued a statement Saturday calling on his constituents to prepare for the impending crisis their province would face.
"We are in the midst of a crisis. This is so because while we slept soundly over the last few months, the government peace negotiators who were tasked to talk with the MILF to end the conflict in Mindanao arrogated upon themselves the power to decide what is best for us and for our children," Piñol said.
He said legal experts he talked with have neatly titled the document "Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD)."
"It is actually a virtual declaration of a new and distinct state in the southern Philippines complete with a defined territory that includes territorial and internal waters and air space," he added.
Piñol said their opposition to the signing of the MOA-AD is "not because we do not desire peace, but because it is our interpretation that in the National Government's haste to forge a peace agreement with the MILF, it is actually putting the future of our children in jeopardy."
The vice governor is not losing hope though in their fight since the Supreme Court (SC) recently issued a resolution directing the government panel to submit its comment and response to the petition he filed.
Piñol also advised the people of North Cotabato to brace for more attacks by the MILF as the Muslim secessionist group's way of pressuring the local government to abandon their opposition to the MOA.
He said: "A top official of this administration warned him that the Armed Forces will not be able to defend our people all out because this is the policy of this administration." (BOT/Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (August 3, 2008 issue)
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