Off to Malaysia, Arroyo hopes to win OIC observer seat

By Rexcel Sorza, IOL Correspondent

ILOILO CITY, Philippines, October 14 (IslamOnline.net) – The Philippine President’s attendance in the 10^th Session of the Islamic Summit Conference (OIC) 2003 would bolster the country’s bid for an observer status in the Organization of Islamic Conference, a top Manila official said Tuesday, October 14.

Philippine Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita believes that the attendance of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the summit in Malaysia would boost the Philippines’ application for an “observer” seat in the organization of 57 Islamic states.

In a statement released Tuesday, Ermita said Arroyo’s presence, the first ever by a Philippine President in the OIC's 34-year existence, “will solidify the chances of the Philippines to be admitted as an observer of the influential Islamic organization.”

Arroyo was invited to attend the summit by the OIC through Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, this year’s summit host. She is leaving Manila for Kuala Lumpur Wednesday, October 15.

Peace In Mindanao

It is seen to also boost the ongoing peace process in Mindanao, particularly the impending resumption of the peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Kuala Lumpur this month.

"Definitely, it will a big help," Ermita said.

Ermita also added that the invitation extended by the Malaysian Premier is in recognition of the Philippine government’s “genuine efforts to solve the long-drawn Mindanao problem hounding the country for more than 30 years.”

The OIC, however, is not scheduled to tackle the Philippines’ application during the summit.

For his part, Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said the OIC could most likely tackle the country's observer status bid next year when Foreign Ministers of the OIC-member countries meet in the Turkish capital Istanbul along with those of Russia and India.

Once admitted, the Philippines might share the seat with the Moro National Liberation front (MNLF), which currently holds the observer status in the OIC for three decades now. Ople has earlier said the observer seat will be "subsumed" to the Philippine government.

Ople said in June that the MNLF will not lose its identity should the Philippines become an observer in the OIC. “The MNLF will be a large and significant part of the Philippine representation in the OIC. But more importantly, this issue was raised by a few OIC members not as a political issue, but more of a technical and procedural matter.”

Ermita said the government will just have to wait for the final decision of the OIC on the application.

Ermita recalled that the OIC was "very supportive" to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) during the bloody war waged by the group against the Philippine government in the early 1970s until 1996 when a peace accord was signed in Manila.

"But because of the efforts of President Macapagal-Arroyo and then President Fidel Ramos, the OIC has fully recognized the Philippine government’s efforts in resolving the Mindanao problem," Ermita said in a statement, received by IslamOnline.net Tuesday.

He claimed that the Philippine government has religiously implemented the GRP-MNLF peace accord of 1996 and "the OIC has found it appropriate."

One of the provisions in the 1996 pact was the integration of former MNLF fighters to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Thousands of former MNLF rebels have been integrated into the AFP and now fighting side by side with government troops in the Southern Philippines.

The full implementation of the provisions of the 1996 MNLF-GRP peace agreement was among the issues tackled during the 28^th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Mali last June 2001.

The OIC then urged the MNLF, which was then led by Professor Nur Misuari and Philippine government to resolve the issue.

Last June, the OIC reminded the Philippine government of its commitments to improve the lot of the Bangsamoro.

MNLF, the predecessor of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was recognized as the sole and legitimate representative to the OIC of the Bangsamoro people, the Muslim Filipinos in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao that fought for an independent Islamic state.

As a permanent observer, the MNLF, which has entered into a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 1996, has the privilege to attend all OIC conferences, including the Islamic Summit Conference and the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers.

Arroyo is going to Malaysia with current MNLF chairman Parouk Hussein.