Peace talks to proceed despite threats
By Jill Beltran and Jonathan de Santos
September 2, 2011
MANILA — Malacañang on Thursday said peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will continue despite threats of renegade MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato.
The government will not give in to Kato’s threats, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ramon “Ricky” Carandang said.
“Both sides, the Philippine government and the MILF, are committed to making this process move forward and we will work together to make sure that attempts to disrupt it will not succeed,” Carandang said.The Government of the Philippines peace panel (GPH) and the MILF have been holding exploratory talks in Malaysia, and President Benigno Aquino III has met with MILF chair Murad Ebrahim in Japan last month.
Besides criticizing the peace talks, Kato has split off from the MILF to form the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement. Recent reports have also indicated that Kato has threatened to disrupt the ongoing peace process and has warned of attacks against an ongoing joint military exercise between Filipino and American troops in Mindanao.
The MILF has declared Kato “bougat” or defiant but will not attack members of his group unless provoked.
“We will not give in to threats and all the planned exercises will continue,” the Palace official said.
Sufficient security is being provided for the US soldiers participating in the military drills and no plans have been made to change schedules because of Kato’s threats, he added.
“Kato is no longer within the command and control of the MILF’s central committee and therefore we consider him as de facto no longer with the MILF,” Presidential peace adviser Teresita Quintos-Deles said.
“However any law enforcement action must always be executed taking the ceasefire agreements into consideration,” she said in a text message to Sun.Star. “We hope that the MILF preserves the ceasefire mechanisms too by acknowledging their inability to discipline Kato.”
Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former police director general, on Thursday said that the government should leave Kato to the police and military.
Speaking at a weekly press forum at the Senate, Lacson called Kato “more of a peace and order problem” for the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to handle. He said policy makers should let the police and military handle him since he is a “tactical” issue.
“We should address the Kato problem in the same way we address the problem of the Abu Sayyaf Group,” he said. The Abu Sayyaf, based in Jolo, Basilan, and Zamboanga, has been involved in kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, and was declared a terrorist group by the US Department of State.
Lacson said he is not optimistic that the current round of talks will bring peace to the southern Philippines, saying past agreements with the Moro National Liberation Front led to the MILF splitting from the group.
He said talks with the MILF may just create another splinter group that the government will have to negotiate with. “It’s difficult to delineate who the enemy is, and who to negotiate peace with,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malacañang does not see anything wrong with reported meetings taking place between some MILF officials, diplomats, and business executives in the past months.
Consultation is necessary to get the support of all stakeholders considering that the talks have been stalled for some time, Carandang said.
“Both the government and the MILF are aware that any conclusion of the peace process must have the support of the majority of the people so doing consultations are important,” he said.
The MILF recently rejected a government offer of wider autonomy and seeks the creation of a sub-state in Mindanao. GPH peace panel chair Marvic Leonen last week said that the government in turn rejected the MILF’s rejection of its proposal.
Leonen said the government offer of a “3-in-1” solution of massive economic development, a political settlement, and cultural-historical acknowledgement “is the most principled, realistic and practical approach” to peace in Mindanao.
Under the proposal, a Bangsamoro Commission composed of the government, the MILF, and stakeholders will oversee implementation of a peace treaty.
The proposal will also “correct historical narratives and foster appreciation of different cultures borne out of the struggles of all Filipinos including those of Bangsamoro identity,” Leonen said.
Leonen, on the other hand, assured the public that the government will be consulting all stakeholders in the peace process with the MILF especially those that have earlier opposed it.
He was in Davao City earlier this week to meet with several groups in Mindanao including the group of former Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Piñol.
From what he has gathered so far, Leonen said that despite the fact that various sectors have various opinion on the issue they all wanted peace in Mindanao.
“There can be a lot of common grounds among different stakeholders in Mindanao. Like development is very important. At the end of the day they are looking at the future that is more tolerant of each other,” he said. (With Ben O. Tesiorna of Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/09/01/peace-talks-proceed-despite-threats-176748
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