"The peace process would be better served if these cases against MILF leaders are eventually dropped," Bunye

ILOILO CITY, Philippines, February 23 (IslamOnline.net) - The Philippine government Monday, February 23, called for the drop of criminal cases against the leaders of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in connection with a series of bombings in Mindanao, two days after both sides agreed to resume talks in April 2004.

"We believe the peace process would be better served if these cases against MILF leaders are eventually dropped," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye announced Monday.

Bunye said that scrapping the charges "will entirely depend on the court".

He assured that "the government is doing its best within the law to achieve a resumption of peace talks with the MILF in April", adding that the charges had been archived by the court a long time ago.

Bunye added that "the government shall ensure that the trial proceeds to its logical conclusion" in the case of the six persons suspected of direct participation in the bombings in the region who are now in jail.

The suspects would "continue to face trial," he said.

The government, through the prosecutor’s office, has filed multiple murder and attempted murder charges against the now-deceased MILF chair Salamat Hashim, then MILF vice chair as well as the current group leader Al Haj Murad Ibrahim and 150 others allegedly involved in the bombings of the Davao seaport and airport. Of the 150, 100 were unnamed in the charge sheet.

A powerful bomb exploded across the Davao International Airport left 22 people dead and 145 others injured, and another bomb explosion on April 2 last year at the Davao International Seaport where 16 persons died and 55 others injured.

A commission was formed by President Gloria Arroyo following a failed mutiny in July where junior officers of the military accused top military officials of carrying out the bombings and taking blame to the MILF. The investigation of the commission is still going on.

The Philippine government and MILF announced Saturday, February 21, that they would resume formal negotiations for a peaceful and lasting solution to the Mindanao problem in April.

The MILF welcomed the announcement made by the Philippine government.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the arrangement for the dropping of charges has been forged during the exploratory talks held on February 20-21 last year in Kuala Lumpur, Kabalu told IslamOnline.net Monday.

Kabalu also said the government would not find it hard to withdraw the cases against the group members, believing that the evidence presented by the prosecution before the court is weak.

Dropping the charges is a confidence-building measure of the Arroyo government, which he said had gone the same way of the Estrada administration where cases filed in connection with the bombing of a shopping mall in Metro Manila were dropped prior to the resumption of the talks then began.

Meanwhile, an international monitoring team would arrive in the country to monitor the case-fire agreement between the parties.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Ricardo Saludo said the panels agreed to put in place a team that would monitor the ceasefire in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

"Aside from the ceasefire, both panels have also endorsed a number of socio-economic development programs that would be carried out once there is a lasting peace agreement between the government and MILF," he said.

Saludo also emphasized that the peace process is not meant only to stop fighting, but, more importantly, to foster economic progress in Mindanao, where decades of fighting between rebels and government troops has stunted the growth of the area.