Government peace negotiator still lobbying for the MILF

ONE of the unamusing pieces of news New Year 2016 greeted us with was the mildly-insulting statement from “government” peace panel chief Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, exhorting Congress to pass the enabling bill for the government’s peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the few post-holiday weeks remaining in the legislative session, which will resume on January 19 and end on February 16.

Ferrer at least seems to have given up the illusion that the original version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law she, the MILF and Malaysian experts crafted, which amounted to a surrender of a large portion of Mindanao, is even being considered. But it is infuriating to see someone who is on the payroll of the Republic of the Philippines continuing to expend a great deal of effort lobbying on behalf of the MILF elite who stand to benefit the most from the unconstitutional and treasonous deal with the government. After complaining that the consideration of the bill – which, in its improved form is known as the Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region – has been “prolonged and tediously delayed” in Congress, Ferrer went on to praise “the wisdom and maturity of the MILF leaders for staying on the peace track despite the disappointments and challenges,” apparently believing that the slaughter of 44 SAF troopers last January and more-or-less constant low-level violence that has displaced thousands and killed or wounded dozens of fighters on both sides since then in areas supposedly under MILF control is “the peace track.”