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By Rene Q. Bas, Editor in Chief
PROFOUND changes have been happening to the
Mindanao peace process these past months, the latest of which is
President Gloria Arroyo’s almost unheralded launching of a new
policy to “localize peace agreements.”
Did this policy change come about as a result of
the incessant claim of Muslim Filipinos—including the moderate and
loyal-to-the-Republic Filipino Muslims of the Philippine Council for
Islam and Democracy —that the 1996 “Final Peace Agreement”
between the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation
Front has not been carried out faithfully by the government?
Did powerful Muslim countries—like
Libya—which have been nursing its friendship with the Philippines
have to do with this policy change?
The policy might indeed give the government a
better chance of achieving peace and development than overarching
national peace agreements.
Even in reaching peace agreements with the
communist rebels, perhaps the prospect of success are better for
“localized peace agreements” than a national peace agreement
between the NDF and the GRP.
Is this why she decided to appoint Gen.
Hermogenes Esperon Presidential Peace Adviser, whose main tasks
right now is to manage the peace process with the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front and the communist rebels.
The President mentioned the new policy in her
speech on Thursday, May 22, in Bacolod to the Local Peace and
Security Assembly.
She said the peace process being pushed by the
government is already boosting the Philippine Medium Term
Development Plan which is expected to be viewed as a success in
achieving economic gains by 2010.
She said “there is a need to localize peace
agreements to further enhance the peace process and hasten economic
development in the countryside.”
The government’s PNA report on the speech says
“PGMA said the ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ approaches of the
military in dealing with the insurgency and armed conflicts are also
helping the peace process achieve the goal of development.
“Arroyo said while the government continues to
exert efforts and seek ways to promote peace, it is also trying to
lessen the impact of armed conflicts.
“The government effort, she said, is hinged on
the approach of peace making, peacekeeping, peace building and peace
talks.”
Esperon’s appointment—which does not take
effect until he assumes the peace adviser’s office on June 16
—has been severely criticized by churchmen, including Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Public Affairs Committee
chairman Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez. He said his opposition was
premised on Esperon’s being linked to political controversies like
extrajudicial killings and the “Hello, Garci tapes” scandal.
Muslims, human rights advocates and Mindanao
peace advocates attacked Esperon’s appointment because they saw
him as a militarist who effectively used the government’s might
against rebels—including the MILF. Esperon had seen combat duty in
Mindanao. When he was made Armed Forces Chief of Staff he also
became known for making the AFP units more united against communist
rebels in the face of coup-d’etat movers in the military.
The Moro National Liberation Front, whose
leaders, chief of all Nur Misuari, its founder and grand leader,
entered into a “Final Peace Agreement” with the government in
1996, have been complaining that the government has not carried out
all the terms of the agreement.
While the MNLF is not expected to go back to
rebellion mode after Nur Misuari was arrested (by Malaysian police)
and convicted of rebellion, National Security Adviser Norberto
Gonzalez and Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza have met with
MNLF leaders and their patron, Libya’s Saif Al-Islam Qadaffi (son
of the country’s grand leader, Muam-mar Qadaffi and head of the
Qadaffi International Charity and Development Foundation.)
Gonzalez and Dureza lobbied for Qadaffi’s help
in keeping the MNLF factions tractable and united behind Nur Misuari
and the moderate MNLF leaders.
The MNLF unity and reconciliation meeting, held
in Tripoli May 17 and 18, yielded a “Tripoli Declaration.” (See
related story “Misuari restoration as MNLF head cements RP-Libya
ties.”)
Trouble in the peace talks with the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, the breakaway group from the MNLF that has become
the largest Moro armed force fighting the government, has not been
settled since the MILF panel refused to attend the scheduled talks
in Kuala Lumpur in January.
The MILF panel bitterly protested what they saw
as government’s insincerity when the government panel said the
issue of “ancestral domain” had to be resolved constitutionally.
The MILF leaders seemed unable to see that the Arroyo administration
would be committing a breach of the Constitution and liable for
treason if it agreed to any agreement reserving territories to the
Bangsamoro nation without observing the law and the provisions of
the Constitution.
The MNLF is more accepting of the RP
Constitution than the MILF.
Malaysia has been brokering MILF-government
negotiations in Kuala Lumpur. It has been known and observed to be
closer to the MILF group of Moros than to the MNLF.
Malaysia is the the leader of the International
Monitoring Team that has been preventing armed clashes between MILF
and government troops. Last month, Malaysia announced that it was
pulling out of its job as leaders of the IMT, Malaysian soldiers
make up most of the IMT peacekeeping force.
Libya seems to have agreed to replace Malaysia
as leader of the IMT.
To try to get the talks with the MILF restarted,
the government panel asked Malaysia to allow direct talks between
the government and MILF.
The MILF last Tuesday rejected the suggestion
made by Philippine chief negotiator (ret.) General Rodolfo Garcia.
The government move was interpreted by Khlaed
Musa, a rebel spokesman, as proof that the Philippine government is
not interested in a “final peace agreement” but only in an
“unending ceasefire.”
With the help of the international monitors, the
ceasefire is holding.
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