Vol. XXI, No. 237 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Thursday, July 3, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
ZAMBOANGA CITY — The government does not see a prolonged response to the Moro rebels’ counterproposal on the peace pact, if only to hasten the forging of a final agreement.
As this developed, the military is bracing for more attacks from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Central Mindanao amid the "growing frustrations" of some Moro rebel commanders over the slow peace process.
Rodolfo C. Garcia, chief of the government peace panel, told BusinessWorld his impression on faster pace of talks was based on an initial assessment of the MILF’s counterproposal on ancestral domain.
"We are in the process [of studying] their counterproposal. It will take a little time but it will not take long," he said in a telephone interview.
The MILF leaders earlier noted their draft will tackle the use of the word "freedom," effectivity of the ancestral domain agreement, and details of the governance strand.
The Moro rebels have rejected twice the state proposal on ancestral domain, and have accused the government of reneging on earlier agreed upon consensus points.
The agreement on ancestral domain will pave the way for the creation of an Islamic state in Mindanao, which the Moro rebels see as the ultimate solution for the long struggle for self-determination on the island.
Mr. Garcia said they have yet to get the approval of the President and the Cabinet on the endorsed draft on ancestral domain before resuming the talks.
But even with this positive development, the situation has become tense in some parts of Central Mindanao.
"There is that possibility that there will be more hostilities [in the following months]," said Maj. Gen. Raymundo B. Ferrer, commander of the 6th Infantry Division based in Central Mindanao.
Encounters were documented in the region in the past few days, with the death of at least two government troops and 10 Moro rebels.
"The ceasefire committee cannot handle this kind of situation because [the fire fight] is continuing. The peace panel should start talking," Mr. Ferrer said.
He said the situation could possibly worsen in August, the expiration of the agreement on the presence of the International Monitoring Team, which has been overseeing the truce between the two parties.
"Hopefully we can get more monitors to enforce the ceasefire," Mr. Ferrer said.
Officials of the Eastern Mindanao Command said the military will maintain a defensive position and will not conduct any offensive operations against the Moro rebels pursuant to the ceasefire agreement.
"Since the MILF leadership said that some of their commanders are restless because of the stalled peace talks, I think it’s about time [for them] to give an official statement whether they allow these offensive actions or not. Otherwise, they should tell all their commanders to stop moving around and creating intense situation," Mr. Ferrer said.
Eid Kabalu, MILF civil-military officer, reiterated that the MILF central committee, said, "We are now on the process of informing our commanders in the developments in the peace talks, but we cannot guarantee as of now that there will no skirmishes," he told BusinessWorld. — Darwin T. Wee
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