Afable: Peace chances with MILF brighter

 
About this time next year, peace between the Philippine government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front should be in place and in a state of further consolidation.

This optimism is shared by representatives of the government and the MILF who both believe “with very high confidence” the peace talks in Malaysia will succeed.

Peace in Mindanao is expected to speed up the full economic development of the region.

Formal peace negotiations between the two sides, however, could start only in a month since the Islamic world’s observance of Ramadan has set in, according to government panel’s chair, Silvestre Afable Jr.

Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process, described the weekend arrival in Manila of a Malaysian team to monitor the cease-fire “an important milestone in the peace process,” but stressed that the signing of a peace accord “is but a start.”

Along with Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and MILF Bangsamoro Development Authority’s Abbas Candao, Deles attributes their optimism to a series of encouraging developments including Malaysia’s initiative to serve as third-country facilitator of the peace talks.

The initiative includes deploying International Monitoring Teams (IMT), mostly Malaysians, to oversee the 15-month truce, which Ermita describes as “the longest the MILF and the government has sustained.”

Brunei, Libya, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, which are members of the Organization of Islamic Conference, have signified their intention to join and participate in the IMT under a mutually agreed Terms of Reference (TOR) adopted early last month.

Contributing to the confidence is the resolution of some irritants, including the repositioning of the Philippine Marines formerly in the Buliok Complex to Barangay Bagoinged in Pikit, North Cotabato, and the dropping of charges against some MILF leaders implicated in the 2003 bombings in Davao City.

On the MILF side, BDA’s Abbas Candao said capacity-building measures in areas of conflict have been assured through assistance by the World Bank and other donor communities.

The BDA, the MILF’s development arm, works closely with these funding institutions in carrying out what is known as the Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) activities of the Mindanao Trust Fund program.

This week, the IMT’s main contingent of 51 Malaysians, led by Maj. Gen. Dato Zulkifeli bin Mohd Zin, began setting up base in five strategic Mindanao sites, including Cotabato City (headquarters), Iligan City, Davao City, General Santos City and Zamboanga City.

The teams represent Malaysia’s military, police and civil service sectors, whose year’s stay in the Philippines is covered by guaranteed diplomatic privileges and immunities.

They landed at the Villamor Air Base on October 9 to a hearty welcome from a high-level Philippine group led by Ermita and Candao, as well as the Malaysian Em­bassy’s charge d’affaires Mahin­der Singh.

In the welcoming group were Afable, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr., Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Rafael Seguis, Southcom commander Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, Deles and Defense Undersecretary Rodolfo Garcia.

Brig. Gen. Alexander Yano and Benjie Midtimbang, chairs of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities of the GRP and MILF, respectively, also welcomed the Malaysians.

Ermita praised Malaysia “for taking a very crucial role in the peace process” and the IMT members for their “great sacrifice by coming [to the Philippines], leaving the comforts of home and family because you believe that peace must be achieved for development to follow.”

He thanked Malaysia for its steady belief that “the work we, your Filipino neighbors, are doing in Southern Philippines to achieve peace will positively affect the lives of your Filipino Muslim brothers and sisters in the region.”

Ermita said President Arroyo “is resolute in putting an end to armed hostilities in Mindanao.”

He expressed hope the cease-fire agreement, which the IMT is tasked to monitor, would move toward permanence, for a lasting resolution to the decades-old strife.

“The Philippine government is hoping that the Malaysian IMT will make sure of permanent peace,” Ermita told the contingent.

He said there is mutual belief by the government and the MILF in their sincerity to move the peace process forward and “take the next steps for lasting peace.

The next steps include formal negotiations, the signing of a final peace accord and participation in the rehabilitation and development of Mindanao.