Do not question failed MOA-AD in SC, says MILF

MANILA, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday urged former North Cotabato governor Emmanuel Piñol not to push through with his plan to question before the Supreme Court (SC) the continued reference to the failed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) in its proposal to form a sub-state.

MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said Piñol should just allow the peace panels of the government and the MILF to conduct their negotiations.

“We appeal to him in the name of peace in Mindanao, not to do that (bring the issue to the Supreme Court). That will create problem(s) for those in Mindanao,” Jaafar said in Filipino.

He said they do not want a recurrence of the violence that swept Mindanao in 2008 caused by rogue MILF members after the SC nullified the MOA-AD.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said only major issues should be brought to the SC.

“He (Piñol) is making fun of the Supreme Court… Major issues, very substantive issues, should only reach the Supreme Court,” he said.

Last week, Piñol said he would question before the SC the MILF’s continued reference to the MOA-AD despite an earlier ruling that declared it unconstitutional.

Government peace panel chair Marvic Leonen has said that the reworking of the botched MOA-AD is entirely the position of the MILF.

He said their proposal to resolve the conflict in Mindanao would be presented to the MILF on Aug. 22.

“In our view, the MILF’s release of details of their proposal is part of their effort to check the sentiment of various publics for their current positions,” he said.

Talks with the MILF were stalled in 2008 after some of its commanders attacked portions of Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Sarangani, killing around 100 civilians including women and children.

The MILF commanders launched the attacks after the SC stopped the signing of the MOA-AD, which would have expanded what is now known as the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Under the deal, areas presently in Palawan, South Cotabato, Zamboanga City, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, and Zamboanga del Sur would become part of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

The agreement would have allowed the MILF to control vast tracts of land, including areas that are Christian-dominated.

The agreement was supposed to be inked on Aug. 5, 2008 but the SC stopped it after some local officials, including Piñol, had filed a petition against it.

On Aug. 4, President Aquino and his delegation slipped out of the country to meet with MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim in Tokyo, Japan.

The two parties agreed to fast-track the negotiations for ending the decades-long conflict in Mindanao.

The meeting, which was held in a hotel near the Narita airport, was the first time a Philippine president held face-to-face discussions with the MILF chairman in 14 years.

Leonen has given assurance that no secret deal was made with the MILF. He said they have learned lessons from the failed MOA-AD in 2008.

He said the government is very serious about the peace efforts. “I invite the MILF to buckle down with us to clearly see the problems on the ground, the viable solutions that we can stage within the remaining years of the current administration with a view to meeting all the interests of all peoples in Mindanao,” he said.

‘Nothing to fear with creation of a sub-state’

The MILF has said that there is nothing to fear about its proposal to form a sub-state because it would still fall within the jurisdiction of the Philippines.

It noted that the largest of the four factions of the group has also expressed support for the proposed sub-state.

MILF was referring to the group of Cotabato City Vice Mayor Muslimin Sema, the largest faction that broke away from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) headed by Nur Misuari. Sema earlier said they have no objection to the creation of a final peace pact between the government and the MILF.

He cautioned the MILF, however, not to sign a peace accord with the government that is “short” in strength and scope as the treaty signed on Sept. 2, 1996 between the government and the MNLF.

The 15-year-old truce between the government and the MNLF, which aims to establish greater autonomy over 13 provinces and 14 Southern Mindanao cities, is now subject of an extensive tripartite review of some of its sensitive provisions.

The three-way review involves the government, the MNLF, and the Organization of Islamic Conference, an Islamic bloc of over 50 Muslim states focused on the enhancement provisions on education, Sharia jurisprudence, regional security, natural resources, and political representation of Mindanao’s Moro communities.

Sema said he is optimistic the Aquino administration will succeed in crafting a peace deal with the MILF, whose leaders were mostly his companions in the MNLF.

The MILF was established in the early 1980s by Egyptian-trained cleric Salamat Hashim, originally a partner of Misuari in organizing the MNLF in the late 1960s.

Threat to territorial integrity

Former President Joseph Estrada said the proposed creation of a sub-state by the MILF may border on “treason” if not handled with caution because it threatens territorial integrity.

“Peace must be attained but not at the cost of our territorial integrity…We must exert all efforts towards peace but we cannot afford to give them their own government against the Constitution,” he said.

He noted that while the proposed Muslim sub-state will remain under the Philippine government, it will have an “asymmetrical” relationship with the government like Hong Kong’s relations with China.

In an interview with ANC, Estrada said that if the current round of peace talks fails, the government should not hesitate to declare an all-out war.

“As a government, we have to see to it that the laws of our land are imposed… They’re rebels, bandits, terrorists,” he said.

During his term as president, he gave the MILF at least six months to create a peace pact. After negotiations failed, he ordered an all-out war.

“If this is the last resort… we have to see to it that there’s peace in Mindanao,” he said. He reiterated earlier calls that the MILF should be given a six-month window.

“We’ve been negotiating with them for 40 years. If there is no timetable, are we going to wait for another 40 years… When are we going to solve this problem?” he said.

In a press conference in Malacañang, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said President Aquino and Murad have agreed to be “problem solvers.”

“We always maintain that let’s negotiate with ourselves and not through the media… We are confident that we will push though with the peace talks given the goodwill that was engendered by the meeting between chairman Murad and President Aquino,” he said.

Infighting

There have recently been reports of infighting in the MILF. Last week, it ordered one of its commanders to stop attacks against a breakaway group in the effort to end a land feud between them that has killed at least 14 fighters and displaced more than 3,000 people in Maguindanao.

The military said the MILF has deployed the Bangsa Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) in areas of conflict in Datu Piang, Maguindanao to act as a buffer force between fighters of its 106th Base Command and that of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

“The MILF Central Committee was successful in ordering the 106th Base Command to cease and desist to conduct aggressive operations against the BIFF for the meantime,” said Brig. Gen. Resty Aguilar, senior military adviser to the government peace panel.

Former 105th Base Commander Ameril Umbra Kato, known as a notorious MILF commander who led the attack on civilian communities in North Cotabato in August 2008, now heads the BIFF.

The MILF, however, has not yet officially declared the dropping of Kato, who has dozens of pending arrest warrants, from its ranks.

While the MILF leadership is negotiating a peace settlement with the government, Kato’s group is fighting for the establishment of Mindanao as an independent state.

Army assistance

The Army’s 6th Division, meanwhile, has created a help desk in Datu Piang, Maguindanao to assist the families affected by the infighting.

Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesman for the 6th Division, said the help desk would take care of the needs of evacuees while the situation in the area is unstable.

The help desks will be manned by members of the Army’s 6th civil-military operations unit.

“They will also render some entertainment like a movie showing while they are in the evacuation center during nighttime to (ease) the distress (of the evacuees),” Asto said in a statement.

Asto said the help desks have so far provided temporary shelter to about 800 families.

Brig. Gen. Rey Ardo, commander of the 6th Division, said these help desks could serve as contact point of military units, other government agencies, non-government organizations, and foreign donors who want to provide assistance. – With Jaime Laude, Sandy Araneta, Jose Rodel Clapano, John Unson, Aurea Calica, Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star)