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By Jefferson Antiporda, Reporter
PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo’s appointment of
former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr., as her
new adviser for the peace process got mixed reactions.
Disapproval and fear of Esperon were expressed
by Muslim Filipinos.
The leadership of the National Democratic Front
berated Mrs. Arroyo for Espe-ron’s appointment.
Some Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaders
voiced what most Muslim Filipinos feel about Esperon’s appointment
but the topmost leaders said they were willing to deal with him as
they had with other generals who served as the government’s chief
negotiator.
The government has ongoing—but stalled—peace
talks with both the NDF and the MILF.
Esperon knows his new task is not easy but he
believes that he can accomplish “something as long as he puts his
heart to it.”
He told reporters that his priorities when he
assumes his post on June 16 are to resume talks with the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and with the National Democratic
Front.
Not ready for rightist rebels
He admitted that the rebel group he is not ready
to talk with are the rightist groups—the core leaders of the
Magdaló and the Marine and Ranger officers involved in the 2006
coup attempt.
“It’s a very serious job,” Esperon said.
“Secretary [Eduardo] Ermita was very familiar with the peace
process but when President Ramos appointed him presidential adviser
for the peace process he had to review many documents.”
Perhaps the reason many criticize his
appointment to peace adviser is that during his years as AFP chief
of staff he was credited with raising the military’s cohesiveness,
using his battle cry “Team AFP.”
Many observers have praised his professional
competence and his success in carrying out his commander in chief
President Arroyo’s order to strategically defeat the CPP-NPA-NDF
by 2010.
Under Esperon, the various units of the AFP
dealt blows to the communist rebel forces that have made them weaker
than ever before.
NDF talks
Esperon says the government has given the NDF
the message that “we are willing to resume talks.” But he
stresses the need to study the process carefully and thoroughly.
“Of course pursuing peace is always a good
step… I’m sure it is to the interest of the nation, of our
soldiers, of our countrymen to have peace negotiations,” he said.
The talks between the government and the NDF was
stalled in 2005 after the latter demanded that the Philippine
government ask the US government to the remove the New People’s
Army from its list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).
Besides the removal from the US and
international list of terrorists, the NDF also presented 12 other
demands that have become impediments to progress in the talks.
Among these were the NDF’s protest against the
government’s illegal “suspension” of the Joint Agreement on
Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG); the military’s Oplan
Bantay Laya I and II and the consequent gross and systematic
violations of human rights; the persecution, murder, arrest and
enforced disappearance of NDF consultants; the demand for
capitulation of the NDF to the GRP in the guise of prolonged
ceasefire before addressing the fundamental problems of Philippine
society and the roots of the armed conflict, and the failure to
indemnify the victims of human rights violations under the Marcos
regime.
Esperon says the NDF demand that these things be
given or redressed before talks can restart is a big hurdle because
the government considers these “impossible demands.”
Among those who expressed opposition over
Esperon’s appointment is Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo who said
that the former AFP chief’s appointment as peace adviser only
shows that government is not sincere in pursuing talks with the NDF.
Talks with MILF
As for the talks with the MILF, Esperon is
confident that the MILF leadership is sincere in the peace process
and that he is willing to even go to the MILF camp just to show the
sincerity of the government in finding peace in Mindanao.
“For us to attain peace we have to face hard
decisions, some self-sacrifices have to be made, some risks would
have to be undertaken. But all that is our job,” he added.
Although he admitted that the election in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in August might have
some effect in the peace process, Esperon is confident that no
matter what will be the effects are, the search for peace will not
be hampered as long as both parties are sincere.
GRP-MILF talks are currently on but suspended
when the MILF refused to attend the last scheduled meeting because,
the MILF said, the government was raising the “constitutional
issue” concerning ancestral domain.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s top
leaders doesn’t see any great significance in the appointment of
Esperon, as presidential adviser on the peace process, saying he is
not different from Jesus Dureza as far as the peace process is
concerned.
According to MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher
Iqbal, personalities involved in the peace talks are merely
secondary to the policy of the government. If the government is
determined to forge a peaceful negotiated settlement of the Mindanao
problem whoever is the negotiator does not matter.
Iqbal cited the case of Secretary Silvestre
Afable, who enjoyed very good credibility with the MILF but did not
deliver much because the policy of the government is not to reach
the genuine resolution of the conflict.
“It is the policy of government that matters
in the outcome of peace talks, not personalities,” he said.
Iqbal added military men are trained to fight
but not to negotiate. But he discounted fears expressed that the
MILF will not be comfortable facing military men. Iqbal said they
are used to having military men across the negotiating table
including the likes of former Generals Fortunato Abat, Orlando
Soriano, Edgardo Batenga, and Rodolfo Garcia, the current government
chief peace negotiator.
Malaysian pullout from IMT
More recently, concerns were raised after the
Malaysian government started pulling out its peacekeepers from the
International Monitoring Team in connection with the expiration of
its contract 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 also have members on the team.
The Malaysian government earlier downplayed
reports that the scheduled pullout of their peacekeepers in Mindanao
means that Kuala Lumpur is abandoning its role as the peace broker
between the Philippine government and the MILF.
Malaysian Armed Forces Chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz
Bin Hj Zainal said that they are not abandoning the peace process
and even disclosed possibility that they might return to the IMT in
a different format.
Aziz explained the pullout of Malaysian
peacekeepers from the International Monitoring Team is based on the
contract which is for one year. It expires on August 31.
“It doesn’t mean that we are abandoning the
peace process because the peace process is divided into teams, one
with the IMT, the ceasefire committee and the other one is the peace
facilitator. So Malaysia will continue to take on these
commitments,” he said.
Aziz emphasized that the Malaysian government
has already made its contribution by providing the platform in order
for the peace process to continue
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