MANILA, 7 July 2003 — A senator yesterday urged the different Muslim communities in the Philippines to come out with a single position to ensure that a peace settlement of the Mindanao problem would be a lasting one.
Sen. Rodolfo G. Biazon proposed the creation of the Congress of Islamic Leaders to represent the entire Muslim communities in the country.
“It is difficult to negotiate peace separately from one Muslim group to another, as each group will be demanding privileges or rights different from each other,” Biazon said at a forum at a hotel in Quezon City.
Biazon, a former military chief of staff, said the government may have succeeded in making peace with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which resulted in the establishment of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), but other organizations cropped up, like the Moro Independent Liberation Movement (MILF).
He said he had made that proposal several years ago but it was slowed down by the lack of funds among the Muslims themselves.
He also urged the Muslim communities to finance themselves in the proposed Congress so that they will not be taken advantage of by opportunistic politicians or big business interests.
