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THE Philippines on Wednesday asked Malaysia to continue its support
to the peace process in the south even after Kuala Lumpur pulls its
peacekeepers from the restive region.
President Gloria Arroyo received Malaysian
Foreign Secretary Rais Yatim at Malacañang palace, after which Rais
held talks with Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo.
“The President expressed her thanks to the
Malaysian government for all the efforts and assistance it’s
giving us in our peace process in the southern Philippines,” her
chief aide, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, told reporters.
Rais did not speak to the press after the two
meetings.
His visit follows an announcement by Kuala
Lumpur last month that it would not send more monitors of a 2003
ceasefire between Manila and separatist rebels to the Mindanao
region once their current mandate expires in September.
That move was widely seen as a sign of
impatience at the slow progress of peace talks between Manila and
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting since
1978 to set up an Islamic state in the southern third of the
largely-Christian Philippines.
The Philippine government and MILF signed the
ceasefire to open the way for peace talks hosted by Malaysia and
other Islamic nations.
Jesus Dureza, who advises Arroyo on the peace
talks and who joined the meetings on Wednesday, said Filipino
officials expressed the hope that the Malaysians “would continue
with their facilitation in our negotiations.”
But foreign department spokesman Rafael Seguis
said Filipino officials had not asked for an extension of the
monitoring team.
“A decision has been made by Malaysia and
having accepted that decision they have made, we asked them to
please continue to help us with the peace process. We want to
respect the decision that they’ve made,” Seguis said.
“The peace process does not end there.”
Manila and MILF struck a deal last November to
create a Muslim homeland in the country’s south. That agreement
was expected to lead to a peace accord, but further talks have not
been successful.
A key stumbling block has been the extent of
territory to be handed over to MILF.
Malaysian troops have made up the bulk of an
international team that has been monitoring the ceasefire since
2004. The outfit also includes officers from Brunei, Libya, Canada
and Japan.
Since their deployment, violence between
government and rebel forces has significantly decreased.
Britain announced last week that it will send
experts in peace negotiations to the Philippines in the coming weeks
to help re-start the stalled talks.
Seguis rejected criticism about the delay in the
talks, saying they were working to ensure that a draft agreement did
not violate the Constitution.
-- AFP
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