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Monday, August 04, 2008
Zamboanga folk rally v. peace accord
ZAMBOANGA CITY (Updated 12:30 p.m.) -- Thousands of Christians in Mindanao rallied Monday against the signing of a preliminary accord granting minority Muslims an expanded homeland as part of efforts to end a bloody Islamic insurgency.
Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiators were headed for Malaysia to sign the memorandum of agreement (MOA) Tuesday that identifies territory to fall under the Muslim region.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
The MILF, estimated to have 11,000 fighters, has been battling for self-rule in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation's volatile south for decades.
Last month, both sides agreed to expand an existing six-province Muslim autonomous region to include 712 villages, subject to the agreement of residents in a plebiscite within a year.
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But some Catholic politicians protested, saying an enlarged Muslim region would lead to renewed sectarian violence and vowing to obstruct the government's plan to conclude the peace accord.
Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat led about 3,000 people in Monday's protest outside City Hall.
Many shops in Zamboanga City, which has been a frequent target of bomb attacks blamed on Muslim militants, closed for the day.
The protesters held placards reading, "Gloria, Don't Sell Us," appealing to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo not to allow the signing of the MOA on ancestral domain.
Lobregat and his allies signed a full-page advertisement opposing Zamboanga City's inclusion in any enlarged Muslim region.
However, Presidential Peace Process Adviser Hermogenes Esperon denied accusations that the government was giving away territory to Muslim rebels.
"No sovereignty is given here. This is for the benefit of Mindanao and the country," he said, adding it is "better to talk than fight."
After signing Tuesday's agreement, regarded by both sides as among the most contentious, the years-long negotiations will move on to other issues, including governance.
The talks have been brokered by Malaysia, which headed ceasefire monitors credited with easing violent clashes in the south. The Malaysians, however, started withdrawing from the area in May, citing slow progress in the talks.
US and Philippine officials hope a peace accord could transform Mindanao into a bustling economic hub instead of a breeding ground of terrorism. (AP/Sunnex)
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