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Philippines: Moro Separatists Setting Formula For Peace
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is setting the formula for peace in Mindanao, urging the regime in Manila to drop the next defense secretary from negotiations.
Macapanton Y. Abbas Jr., one of the MILF lawyers handling proposed negotiations with a peace panel constituted by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has said that Angelo Reyes should not be named defense secretary.
Reyes led the Philippines Armed Forces (AFP) during military offensives against Muslims last year and is viewed as a potential candidate for the still vacant post of defense secretary. Reyes, currently, is the Armed Forces chief of staff.
Abbas said this was one pre-condition that would guarantee the return of the MILF to the negotiating table.
"If you have a secretary of defense who has been identified with the prosecution of the war, or have a chief of staff who was pro-war under Estrada, I don't think they [the MILF] will have enough confidence to go back to negotiations," Abbas said during a press conference.
He noted that the MILF's leadership has not appointed a negotiating team for the peace talks because it was waiting for Arroyo to announce her choice to fill the two top security posts in the country.
"The most prominent figure in peace talks would be the Secretary of National Defense and the Armed Forces chief because they are the ones who can make the decisions on the ground," Abbas said.
He noted that despite the government's announcement of a ceasefire, some 8,000 people have fled their homes in Central Mindanao because of military operations in the past two weeks.
"They should have a mechanism for enforcing peace before we can talk about other substantive issues," Abbas said insisted.
The Philippines seem to be mistaking precipitation for speedy execution of orders. The army is not prepared for peace with the MILF, yet the political elite wants to negotiate a peaceful settlement.
War is still going on and the recent clashes in Mindanao involving the army and the MILF is indicative of the solidity of the generals' control of operations on the field.
They are attempting to place on hold any political decision-making in Manila and keep their chase on for the separatists. This is what the MILF does not want to see and would like Arroyo to rectify soon, some observers in Kuala Lumpur told IslamOnline.
However, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said that what is vital are proposals the government would present to the separatists.
"It is not so much who is the messenger, but what is the message. If General Reyes would bring a message of peace, then it would be all right," Pimentel said.
Pimentel is pushing for a shift to a federal system of government and has proposed it as a solution to the Muslim secessionist problem in Mindanao.
"This is really the ultimate constitutional and legal solution to the recurrence of uprisings by Muslim rebels in central and southern Mindanao. This is the only way we can get them back to the negotiating table - offer them something they can't refuse," Pimentel said.
He said a federalist system is acceptable to MILF chair Hashim Salamat, MILF military chief Al-Hadj Murad, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Nur Misuari and Muslim intellectuals.
Peace talks with the MILF collapsed last year after then president Joseph Estrada ordered a massive military campaign that captured at least 45 MILF camps in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, Pimentel said the next AFP chief should give priority to peacemaking efforts with the MILF.
Pimentel further noted that the new chief and the new defense secretary should both come from the military, so they will be armed with the proper background in dealing with the separatists.
Reyes is set to retire on March 17th while Arroyo has appointed Batangas Representative Eduardo Ermita as Defense chief only in an acting capacity.
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