SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao, 13 November — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday accused the government of not observing to the letter a peace agreement the two sides have signed.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu, in a radio interview in Cotabato City, complained of the government’s "snail paced" implementation of the agreement amid an upsurge in hostile actions allegedly involving government security forces against members of the separatist group and Moro civilians.
"There had been a series of incidents taking place in many parts of Mindanao which could have been properly handled by the Local Monitoring Teams (LMTs) if only the government responded positively on the guidelines of the cease-fire agreement of Aug.7, 2001," said Kabalu.
The agreement was signed by representatives of the two sides in Tripoli, Libya.
On Oct.18, the same representatives have approved a Manual of Instruction needed for implementing the cease-fire issues and handling problem that may arise.
"It is unfortunate that the GRP (government) until now has yet to formally announce the formation of its own monitoring teams to be organized in the different conflict affected areas…" said Kabalu.
The LMTs aresupposed mandated to assume to powers, duties and responsibilities originally assigned to the defunct Independent Fact Finding Committee (IFFC), then headed by Catholic Priest Eliseo R. Mercado, head of the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City.
Earlier, Mercado had proposed a traditional mechanism aimed to provide smooth turnover of responsibility from the IFFC to the LMTs and at the same time offering his services to the parties for the organization of the LMTs.
Kabalu said some members of the MILF are beginning to suspect that the government’s foot-dragging in the formation of its own LMTs is intentionally done to give the military time to "execute their plan of action" without fear of being charged with violating the cease-fire agreement.
