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Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Gov’t names 3 to peace panel
MANILA -- The government has appointed three members to a new panel formed to revive peace talks with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group after negotiations collapsed amid fighting four months ago, officials announced Tuesday.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has said the government is committed to restarting talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the 11,000-strong rebel group that has been fighting for self-rule for minority Muslims for decades.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Arroyo has faced growing international calls to resume peace talks to end the new fighting that killed scores of soldiers, rebels and civilians and displaced more than 500,000 villagers in the southern Mindanao region's marshy heartland.
Presidential peace adviser, Hermogenes Esperon Jr., on Tuesday announced the appointment of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, a Muslim, and former General Santos Rep. Adilberto Antonino, representing Christians from Mindanao, as negotiators.
Former House sectoral representative Ronald Adamat, a co-author of a law on indigenous people, was also named to the panel, while a fourth member will be announced shortly, Esperon told reporters.
Esperon added the fourth member to be named would represent "the sectors that are not yet represented."
"As the President reiterated in her remarks during the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) anniversary... she said again that we are committed to the peace and to restarting the peace process. In this regard, the President announced that the peace process must proceed and we are assembling the pieces to get the peace process started again in a way that upholds our commitment to peace, to the strong sentiments of communities and to the rule of law," said Esperon adding that the appointment of the panel members is just one piece of the peace process.
The other pieces he mentioned include identifying the peace talks facilitator; completing the composition of the security monitoring team; the economic monitoring team; and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration advisory group.
Three weeks ago, Arroyo named Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, a veteran diplomat, as new chief negotiator.
Previous Malaysian-brokered talks had appeared close to a deal in July, when both sides initialed a preliminary agreement to expand a Muslim autonomous area in the south. However, Christians in the area appealed to the Supreme Court (SC), which issued a restraining order before the pact could be formally signed.
In August, rebel commanders began attacking villages in Mindanao, and Arroyo disbanded the previous panel in September.
A spokesman for the rebels said they would reject any new negotiations unless the government sticks to the previous autonomy deal, which was later invalidated by the Supreme Court.
"We are firm with our stand. We will resume peace talks only if President Arroyo honors the Muslim ancestral domain agreement," said Mohagher Iqbal, the chief rebel peace negotiator. (AP/JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (December 24, 2008 issue)
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