Next round of gov’t-MILF talks in January

12.16.2009
By Adriel M. Paglinawan
Business World

THE GOVERNMENT and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels will hold the second round of talks in January, officials from both sides said early this week.

In last week’s initial round of talks more than a year after negotiations bogged down, both panels agreed in Kuala Lumpur -- Malaysia being the third-party negotiator -- to revive the International Monitoring Team which oversees the 1997 ceasefire pact, and the Ad Hoc Action Group, a body that would address organized crime within or near identified MILF areas.

"Next round of talks is tentatively set in January," MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said in a phone interview.

The talks will focus on the comprehensive peace pact, he said, adding they are hoping to agree on a peace deal before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo steps down in June 2010.

"The most difficult aspect of the talk is finding a just and lasting solution to the problems in Mindanao," Mr. Iqbal said, referring to the peace pact.

In a separate interview, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Anabelle T. Abaya said peace negotiations with the MILF will resume after the Christmas season.

Although the government peace negotiating panel is looking at forging a possible peace deal within the administration’s term, Ms. Abaya said, imposing a deadline may be misinterpreted as imposing "undue pressure" on both panels.

Ms. Abaya said the state’s draft proposal is guided by two principles: "no fractionalizing of the country" and "all agreements must be within the bounds of the Constitution."

"We will be enlarging consultations to include local government units and the military," she said, noting that the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process has concluded its consultations with the academe and civil society groups on the comprehensive peace agreement.

Formal talks collapsed last year after the proposed territorial deal which sought to give broader administrative powers to the Moros in an expanded Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) hit a constitutional snag in October.

The MILF, which split from the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), has been fighting for a separate state in Southern Mindanao since 1978.

The MNLF signed a peace pact with the government in 1996 paving the way for the creation of the ARMM which the MILF rejected.
The ARMM groups the provinces of Basilan, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.