by Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/05 March) – The government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels met Thursday at the Sheraton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur for a “Q and A” session on the seven-page extract of the 38-page draft comprehensive compact of the MILF.
The panels agreed that the government peace panel will produce a draft in response to the MILF presentation, sources from both panels told MindaNews.
At the same time, the two panels approved the application of two groups -- the Cotabato City-based Mindanao Human Rights Action Center (MinHRAC) and the Marawi City-based Muslim Organizaon Government Officials and Professionals (MOGOP) -- for inclusion in the Civilian Protection Component (CPC).
Government peace panel chair Rafael Sequis told MindaNews by phone that “everything went very well.”
“The Q and A session ended this afternoon at Sheraton Hotel with optimistic note. The MILF panel replied to the questions raised by the GRP with clarity and candidness,” Seguis said Thursday night. But he did not elaborate on what questions the government raised and what issues the MILF answered with “clarity and candidness.”
MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal described the session as “blunt,frank, and tiring.”
“Perspectives differ: GRP constitutional, MILF negotiated formula. No document signed except the admission of two NGO members of CPC,” Iqbal told MindaNews in a text message. The Mindanao Peoples Caucus and Non-Violent Peace Force had earlier been named members of the CPC.
“It was extended to afternoon. We presented and explained our draft in Power Point. Then GRP grilled us. Then separate sessions for GRP and ICG then another for MI-ICG,” Iqbal said.
ICG is the International Contact Group (ICG) that was set up on December 3 and is initially composed of the United Kingdom, Japan and Turkey as member-countries and The Asia Foundation, the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, the London-based Conciliation Resources and the Indonesia-based Muhammadiyah as INGO members.
Iqbal said the ICG members were allowed to raise questions in the session after lunch.
Iqbal, in his speech at the Q and A session, posted in the MILF website, said the last time they were in Kuala Lumpur was for the supposed two-day 17th GRP-MILF Exploratory Talks on January 27 to 28.
“We exchanged drafts on the comprehensive compact on the first day, on January 27, but on the second day the Parties (did not meet) directly for reason all of us know. The lesson learned here is that the peace negotiation between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), like all similar negotiations, has rules of engagement to follow and agreed agenda to discuss and pursue through to the end.,” he said.
Iqbal explained that since 1997, the agenda of the talks had been on how to solve the “Bangsamoro Problem.”
The problem, he said, “involves a variety of social, cultural, economic and political issues and concerns,” so the task of the negotiators is “to find a political and lasting solution to this problem … with the end in view of establishing a system of life and governance suitable and acceptable to the Bangsamoro people.”
“The Tripoli Agreement on Peace on June 22, 2001 entrenched this further by providing that the negotiation and peaceful resolution of the conflict must involve consultations with the Bangsamoro, free of any imposition in order to provide chances of success and open new formulas that permanently respond to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people for freedom,” Iqbal dded.
He noted that there was an “almost impasse” on January 28 because government offered as its draft comprehensive compact ‘old formula’ contained in the Republic Act 6734, as amended by 9054, that established Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
But the ARMM, he said, “has never been the product of negotiation but a unilateral action of government through legislations or acts of the Philippine Congress.”
He said the so-called ‘enhanced autonomy’ offered by government is nothing new as it been offered to the MILF at least three times “and each time the offer was made the MILF rejected it outright.”
MindaNews recalls the first offer was made in May 2000 when peace talks resumed as government and rebel forces battled in Camp Bushra, Lanao del Sur. The second was in February 2003, on the eve of the aerial strike on Buliok and the third, according to Iqbal, on January 27 this year.
“The government also offered federal state to the MILF in April 2005 with the central government having exclusive powers over national defense, foreign relations, coinage and currency, and postal services, but the MILF rejected it simply because the government was not in a position to give it to us,” he said. The shift to a federal form of government requires constitutional amendment.
Iqbal added that the essence of the GRP draft presented in January is “contained in existing laws and policies or programs of government like strengthening of the Islamic banking, the Shariah justice system, madaris system, etc.”
“Why do we have to negotiate for something which is already given; and stated more seriously, why do we have to accept something that had already caused the marginalization of the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) and the irrelevance of its leaders --- who up to now are waiting for the GRP to comply with the spirit and letter of the GRP-MNLF Final Agreement on September 2, 1996?”
The MNLF had since divided into several factions with peace pact signatory Nur Misuari now running again for Sulu governor. Misuari ran but lost the gubernatorial race in 2007.
“If the peace talks is passing through a turbulent zone today --- and on the verge of signing nothing until President Arroyo’s exit on June 30, this year -- it is because the GRP is not very truthful to what is agreed by the Parties at the start of their engagement; i.e., for the MILF not to raise the issue of independence and the GRP the issue of constitution and territorial integrity. Up to now, the MILF has not breached this commitment, and we have declared time and again that the MILF will no longer pursue independence as solution to the Bangsamoro problem in favor of an asymmetrical arrangement of a ‘state-and-substate’ arrangement. An offer of bogus autonomy is no solution at all --- and the MILF will never accept, knowing fully well that our people and the generations yet to come will suffer forever,” Iqbal said.
Iqbal said the Philipine government “has not changed its ‘inside the box’ approach as far as its reference to its Constitution is concerned, when other states, which also have constitutions, like Sudan, Ireland, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and even Canada, have already succeeded to resolve conflicts in their borders to the satisfaction of the parties. They used their constitutions as vehicles --- and not as obstacles --- to solve their conflicts. As far as the MILF is concerned, the Philippine Constitution is a contested issue. We view this constitution as an instrument of perpetuation of the ruler-and-ruled relationship between the majority Filipinos and minoritized Moros. We have never been part of the decision-making since we were annexed as part of the Republic of the Philippines in 1946. Our part of Mindanao has continued to shrink and shrink, while our natural wealth is being carted away by outsiders without a share of the profit for our people,” Iqbal added.
Seguis was sought for comment but had not responded as of press time.
Iqbal recalled that in their joint statement on July 29, 2009, the first time the parties met again after the aborted August 5, 2008 signing of the then already initialed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), they agreed to “acknowledge the MOA-AD as an unsigned and yet initialed document and they also committed to reframe the consensus points with the end in view of moving towards the comprehensive compact to bring about a negotiated political settlement.”
“The MILF indeed reframed the consensus points in both its 38-page draft on comprehensive compact and the seven-page paper on the Interim Governance Arrangement, while the GRP is so scared even to mention the word MOA-AD in its draft. Why is this so, after agreeing to that MOA-AD reframing?” Iqbal asked.
In closing, Iqbal said that “if some of my statements are blunt and direct, it is not my intention to hurt the feelings of people especially my honorable counterparts from the government headed by Ambassador Rafael Seguis. It is my way of bringing my message clearly as possible.”
The two panels were supposed to have met February 18 to 19 but this was reset to March.
MindaNews asked Seguis in late January on his panel’s alleged offer of the ARMM to the MILF but Seguis told MindaNews in a text message, “no substantive talks yet. Not in that context!”
In his January 28 press statement, Seguis clarified “there is no agreement yet” with the MILF.
“Both sides are still in the early stages of discussing each other’s position papers,” he said.
Though not explaining what kind of political package it was offering the MILF, Seguis in his press statement said the government’s draft peace agreement is “compliant with the Constitution and pertinent laws” and is “also guided by the Supreme Court decision on the aborted MOA-AD”
Seguis said the government’s 2010 draft peace agreement “mostly identifies executive ‘doables’, proposed legislative actions to strengthen regional autonomy, and openness to hear MILF proposals for constitutional change.”
“The GRP draft is clear that discussions that will concern legislative and other policy actions will still be proposals which would be submitted to Congress,” he said.
“There is no mention of any ‘Bangsa Moro’ sub-state in our draft,” Seguis added.
Iqbal told MindaNews the MILF has proposed a “State – Sub-state relationship” that would require amending the 1987 Constitution’s Article 10, Section 15-21.
Sections 15 to 21 of Article 10 on Local Government, focus on the autonomous regions. In the 1987 Constitution, these sections provided for the creation of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras but only the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao has been created. The Cordillera region has remained an administrative region.
The arrangement, Iqbal said, would be “similar to Sarawak” in Malaysia. Malaysia has a federal form of government. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)
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