Vol. XXI, No. 232 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Thursday, June 26, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
ZAMBOANGA CITY — The government peace panel has taken the initial step to restart peace talks with Moro rebels with the turnover on Tuesday of its draft proposal on the ancestral domain agreement to the Malaysian facilitator.
In a telephone interview, government chief negotiator Rodolfo C. Garcia told BusinessWorld they have given the draft to Othman Abdul Razak for discussion with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panel anytime.
He said the Malaysian facilitator, who has been brokering the 11-year-old talks, has yet to officially transmit the draft to the MILF for comment before scheduling a new round of talks in Malaysia.
Mr. Garcia declined to give additional information on the new draft, citing protocol.
The MILF, which has been fighting to have an Islamic state in Mindanao, has rejected the government proposal on the ancestral domain twice since December last year, even accusing the government of reneging on previously agreed-upon consensus points.
The rebels first rejected the proposal when some key points in the ancestral domain were deleted in the draft, and the second was when the government did not include the governance aspect.
The talks were delayed indefinitely after the state asked to exercise its right on "due diligence" in studying the key points since some provision were extra-constitutional that needed more time for legal scrutiny, including possible changes to the Constitution.
Mr. Garcia said the government has finished working on the last strands of the ancestral domain issue.
These are the "Aspiration of the Bangsamoro for Freedom" or determination to find political status of the Bangsamoro; the terms and wording such as ownership, control, and jurisdiction under "Sharing of Wealth and Resources"; and the "Building of Institution."
The Islamic state called the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity will include the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which will serve as the administrative center.
Residents in Palawan, the Zamboanga Peninsula and Sultan Kudarat will still undergo a referendum to determine if they prefer to be under the Islamic state.
The signing of the ancestral domain agreement will form part of the final peace accord.
Other items earlier agreed upon were security, and rehabilitation and development, all of which were part of the Tripoli agreement of 2001.
Both the government and MILF are rushing to resume the talks before the Aug. 31 terminal date of the International Monitoring Team to leave Mindanao.
The pullout of more than half of the 40 Malaysian troops under the team recently has caused tension on the ground.
Military and Moro rebels yesterday confirmed the fierce fire fight between their troops in Central Mindanao.
Eid Kabalu, MILF civil-military officer, did not give details on what triggered the fire fight, saying the battle started early yesterday.
The 27th Infantry Battalion have reportedly asked for air support, said Maj. Armand Rico, spokesman of the Eastern Mindanao Command. (See related story). — Darwin T. Wee
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