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Consultation with locals seen as key | December 27, 2008

As sporadic fighting continues between Moro Liberation Front (MILF) and government forces in Mindanao, bishops agree the planned revival of peace talks between the two sides could succeed if negotiators consult local communities about issues affecting them.

Speaking with UCA News on Dec. 26, Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro said resuming the negotiations "should start with a wider consultation of all the local communities affected" in Mindanao, the southern Philippine region.


On Dec. 24, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Tomas Cabili Jr., a Catholic lawyer and businessman from Iligan City, in Mindanao, to complete a new five-member government peace panel that will negotiate peace with the MILF. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced the appointment at his weekly news conference that day and expressed hope the MILF would "respond appropriately."

"As we start the year, we should be able to proceed with peace talks," he said, looking forward to a peace agreement being signed before Arroyo's term ends in 2010.

Archbishop Ledesma expressed his optimism the negotiations would restart, but pointed out that lack of wide consultation among local communities seemed to be the objection to the previous peace talks and their draft agreement.

On Dec. 23, Arroyo's chief peace adviser, Hermogenes Esperon Jr., briefed reporters in Manila that the president had appointed Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, Former Mayor Adilberto Antonino of General Santos City, and former Congressman Ronald Adamat, of Upi, Maguindanao, to the panel chaired by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Sequis.

Antonino will represent the local chief executives and the Christian community, Esperon said, while Adamat, who coauthored the Indigenous People's Rights Act, will represent the lumad, or indigenous people, in Mindanao, Esperon explained.

According to Cabinet officials and advisers at the Dec. 23 briefing, reconstructing the panel was the government's initiative as well as a challenge to the MILF to revive negotiations.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the president called on the new panel to identify relevant issues for discussions with "stakeholders in a peace agreement with the MILF." It is to recommend to the National Security Council, and ultimately to the president, positions the government will take in peace discussions with the MILF.

He noted that renewed clashes during the 11-year-old government-MILF peace negotiations came after "MILF rogue elements" attacked civilian communities in Lanao and other Mindanao provinces in August.

At this "lowest point" in the peace process, he expressed hope the MILF responds to the new panel as an "invitation" and "challenge" to revive peace negotiations.

Incidents of fighting between the MILF and the military have been reported over the Christmas holidays.

United Church of Christ in the Philippines Bishop Hilario Gomez Jr., speaking with UCA News Dec. 26 from Lanao del Norte, Mindanao, said he can hear fighting and gunfire from neighboring towns.

"I have heard the gunfire. Army helicopters have been hovering overhead firing at the MILF below since Dec. 20," reported the prelate, convener of Protestant bishops in the Bishops-Ulama Conference, which brings Catholic and Protestant bishops in Mindanao together with ulama, or Muslim scholars. MILF forces "have attacked Salvador town, and even in Tubud there have been skirmishes," he said.

Asked how he views the peace panel appointments, the bishop said that while the panel does not represent the broad range of stakeholders, he believes Seguis is a "fine choice" because he "is from Mindanao and very well-experienced in peace negotiations with MILF."

Bishop Gomez believes negotiations must begin where they ended, because "so much time, money and effort have already been spent." But he says study and deliberation on key points "must be restarted, like ancestral domain issues and sovereignty of the Bangsa Moro (Moro nation)."

Arroyo had dissolved the previous panel in September after "rogue" MILF fighters launched attacks in Lanao del Norte, Cotabato and other southern provinces in August after the aborted signing of an agreement on ancestral domain. At the time, Ermita said the government would shift its focus from negotiating with the 11,000-strong rebels to consulting with stakeholders.

Posted by admin at December 27, 2008 03:07 PM


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