ZAMBOANGA CITY, 2 September 2007 — Muslim separatist rebels yesterday urged President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resolve the problems in Mindanao before her terms ends three years from now.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, in 2001, but there have been no major agreement to end the insurgency in the troubled region, except for a cease-fire accord.

Despite the truce, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating the accord. In July, rebel forces killed 14 soldiers in a fierce battle in Basilan Island after security forces encroached inside an MILF stronghold in search of kidnapped Italian Catholic priest Giancarlo Bossi.

The MILF is fighting for a separate Islamic state in parts of the Philippines’ main southern island of Mindanao and surrounding islands, whose 16 million population includes about 4 million Filipino Muslims.

The MILF accused Arroyo of wasting away six years in peace talks. “Don’t dribble too much, 2001 to 2010 is too long for a decisive president to clinch an agreement with the MILF to address the problem in Mindanao,” said Jun Mantawil, a senior rebel leader.

He said the MILF has asked Manila to be serious in the peace talks to solve the Muslim insurgency in Mindanao and put an end to sufferings of people in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich region.

Manila postponed peace talks last month in Kuala Lumpur, saying, it was not prepared to meet with the MILF panel.

Malaysia is brokering peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF, but talks ended in September in Kuala Lumpur with both sides failing to sign any agreement on the most contentious issue, ancestral domain, which would constitute a Muslim homeland.

“The government will not be short of pretensions why the talks are not moving, but what it cannot hide is the fact the remaining term of President Arroyo is not far away and even the ancestral domain aspect of the Tripoli Agreement of 2001 has not been hurdled by the two parties despite the excellent facilitation of the Malaysian government,” Mantawil said.

The MILF wants the ancestral domain to cover the whole of the existing autonomous region and other areas in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces, where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. Also being eyed for inclusion is the archipelagic southwestern province of Palawan.

The present autonomous region is composed of the city of Marawi and the provinces Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sharif Kabunsuan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

End to All-Out War Sought

In Manila, Roman Catholic Church leaders led by Manila Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales yesterday renewed appeals to the government to end the military offensive in Basilan and Sulu, saying the civilian population must be spared from further sufferings.

“It’s always the civilians who are caught in the middle. The fighting should not go on, and there should be a search for the real reasons why there is a conflict. Nobody will be left alive until kingdom come with all this fighting,” Rosales said after mass at the Manila Cathedral during the ordination of Fr. Francisco de Leon as the new auxiliary bishop of Antipolo

According to Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, “Violence should not be resolved with violence. Never has the Church been in favor of any offensive, only peace and dialogue.”

He called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines to stop the fighting in light of the approach of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Rosales said he was sure that those fighting the government in Muslim Mindanao had their reasons and these concerns were “addressable,” now or in the future.

“Is it too much to ask the Filipinos who are engaged in battle or war what is the reason behind this fighting?” he said.

The prelate said it was not enough for the government to run after the separatists in Basilan and Sulu because of a “criminal act” such as the ambush and mutilation of soldiers.

“If it’s criminal, then address it. But why are the people turning criminal in the first place? We have to educate the people,” Rosales said, adding that in his youth he visited Muslim communities and saw for himself the plight of the people there.

Rosales said that if people believe or do something wrong, they should be taught what is right.

“Let’s not just say, ‘I don’t like you, I’ll shoot you.’ That’s not right. The citizens will be wiped out if that happens,” he added. (With a report by the Inquirer News Service)