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By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
ZAMBOANGA CITY: “We are firm
with our demands for self-determination. We cannot compromise our
independence and our freedom,” Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), told The Manila Times
Saturday.
The Muslim rebels’ vow to fight
for independence came up in an interview about the withdrawal of
Malaysia from the International Monitoring Team (IMT) which has been
watching over the ceasefire between Philippine military and the MILF
since peace negotiations began in 2004.
The peace talks have been stalled
since December over the issue of the scope of the Moros’ ancestral
domain, which is the single most important issue in the peace
negotiations.
The MILF said the government
peace negotiators led by Rodolfo Garcia last year agreed on the
scope of the ancestral domain, but later reneged on it. The
Philippine government-MILF agreement as MILF wants it should
constitute a separate homeland for over four million Muslims in
Mindanao, also home to about 17 million mostly Christian Filipinos.
There are also Lumads (indigenous tribal Filipinos).
The MILF said Garcia completely
disregarded the agreement on the ancestral domain and insisted again
that the granting of a homeland to Muslims in Mindanao would solely
be done through constitutional processes which the rebel group
previously opposed. But the Philippine Constitution prohibits the
dismembering of the country.
The MILF said the stance of the
government peace panel virtually jeopardized the integrity of the
peace process, and to continue with the talks would turn it into a
circus.
“Under the agreement, the
Muslim autonomous region (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or
ARMM) will be part of the independent Bangsamoro homeland and those
areas outside the region would vote on an independence
referendum,” Kabalu said.
He said the ancestral domain
covers the whole of the ARMM and other areas in Zamboanga del Norte,
Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat
and Sarangani provinces where there are large communities of Muslims
and indigenous tribes, as well as Palawan island in central
Philippines and the Sulu archipelago.
Malaysia, which is brokering the
peace talks held in Kuala Lumpur, has announced it will no longer
renew its participation in the IMT when its current mandate ends in
September.
The Malaysians actually lead the
IMT and has the most peacekeepers in the team that includes Brunei,
Canada, Japan and Libya.
Malaysian officials have said
they are pulling out their soldiers because there seems to be no
progress in the negotiations.
Kabalu told The Times that the
government is now building up its military firepower in Mindanao and
is causing apprehension in areas where the MILF is active. “The
truce and the peace talks are shaky right now and there is
apprehension because of this buildup of military firepower in
Mindanao and the withdrawal of the truce observers,” he said.
“The MILF will remain vigilant.
We are not sure how the ceasefire will hold without the
Malaysian-led international truce observers,” Kabalu said, adding,
the MILF respects Malaysia’s decision to withdraw all its
observers unless there is a significant progress in the stalled
peace talks.
Murad Ebrahim, the secluded
leader of the MILF, said Manila is to be blamed should the peace
talks collapse. “If the peace process fails as a result of the
GRP’s dilly-dallying and spoiling, we are left with no choice, but
to seek other means of achieving our objective. Should that happen,
the government is to blame for failing to settle the conflict
through diplomatic means,” he said.
The MILF previously appealed to
rebels and supporters for patience as the talks stalled over demands
for a separate Muslim homeland.
“The Philippine government
bears the responsibility to comply with its commitment to adhere to
the consensus points and agreed Memorandum of Agreement draft
proposal on ancestral domain. Such moves will avert the peace
process from falling apart,” Ebrahim said.
“Let me reiterate to all,
including the international community, that the MILF leadership is
very serious and fully committed to resolve the conflict between the
Bangsamoro people in Mindanao and the government of the Republic of
the Philippines through the current peace process,” he said.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Kuala Lumpur wanted progress in the
peace process. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim also said
Kuala Lumpur will not be sending any more truce observers to
Mindanao after the mandate of its current team ends in September.
Members of the Malaysian Defense Forces had been in Mindanao since
2004 as part of the IMT.
The monitoring team is composed
of 41 officers from the Malaysian Defense Forces, the Royal Malaysia
Police and the Prime Minister’s Department, and is also supported
by 10 military officers from Brunei Darussalam and five from Libya.
Canada and Japan have also members on the team.
Since the IMT arrived, fighting
between security and rebel forces drastically decreased from 698
armed clashes in 2004 to just seven incidents last year.
Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a regional
Philippine army spokesman, tried to allay the apprehensions of the
MILF by saying the military is committed to the peace process and
would further strengthen the mechanism of the ceasefire agreement in
Mindanao.
“Like the MILF, we are also for
peace and we wanted to see an end to the conflict in Mindanao. We
respect the decision of the Malaysian government to pull out its
truce observers and we appreciate Malaysia’s commitment to peace
in Mindanao,” Ando said.
Mohammad Ameen, a ranking MILF
rebel leader, said the group will only sign a peace deal with the
Arroyo government if it establishes genuine governance for Muslims
either in the form of a “state” or “sub-state”.
President Gloria Arroyo opened up
peace talks with the MILF in 2001 and signed a ceasefire agreement,
but some rebel commanders see the negotiations as a strategy aimed
at temporarily stopping the hostilities in Mindanao until her term
ends in 2010 and pass on the secessionist problems to the next
president.
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