MILF wants new pact on ancestral domain

THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) submitted to the government panel a new proposal to keep the peace process going, along with a demand that may again stall negotiations—a new agreement on ancestral domain.

Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, said the proposal was drawn after members of the MILF Central Committee met with Malaysian facilitator Tenkgu Dato AB Ghafar Tengku Mohamed in Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat Thursday last week. Their proposal will be discussed with the government peace panel. Jaafar, however, said the scheduled meeting on September 12 and 13 in Kuala Lumpur may not push through.

“Our proposal is part of the reply of the MILF to what the government panel wanted. What we are saying is we have a proposal to move forward the peace negotiations,” he said.
MILF peace panel member Michael Mastura said the only way for the peace process to continue is for the government to drop its “3 in 1” proposal and draft a new Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD). He added the “3-in-1” proposal is not responsive to the MILF’s proposed compact agreement that calls for the establishment of a Bangsamoro sub-state.

“We want to give them the square deal, not going back to ARMM [Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao]. That square deal means that we go back with continuity to the past agreement, it’s very clear and even [MILF chairman] Hadji [Ebrahim] Murad made a similar message to the facilitator—continuity,” Mastura stressed.

“It was very clear that our last document was a declaration of continuity,” Mastura said, lamenting that the government panel “is disregarding the past.”

He said the government should not turn its back on the consensus points reached in the past if it is negotiating in good faith.

Part of that consensus point, Mastura said, is the reframing of the MOA-AD, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

“In our parlance, the MOA-AD itself was not declared unconstitutional, what was declared unconstitutional was the process,” he said. “Even constitutional lawyers, it refers to the abuse of discretion of [Hermogenes] Esperon. So it’s not the lack of consultation they said, but they did also say that you cannot negotiate. You can reframe the MOA-AD so we can reframe our draft. Reframe it, then there is continuity.”

The MILF, Mastura said, is confident that the government panel will agree to the continuity proposal, which he noted was not a new deal but rather a continuation of unresolved points.

According to Mastura, the government’s “3 in 1” proposal is not acceptable to the MILF.

“There has to be a new formula and the new formula is not found in the Organic Act or ARMM but could be found in the consensus point and continuity of that,” he said. –WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL REPORTER, Daily Tribune