KUALA LUMPUR, 8 May — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine government yesterday signed an agreement on rebuilding the war-ravaged southern Mindanao.
The agreement was presented to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who also witnessed the signing of a separate anti-terrorism treaty with Malaysia and Indonesia. She did not speak to reporters.
The agreement builds upon a Malaysian-brokered cease-fire both sides reached last year in hopes of ending decades of conflict in the predominantly Muslim part of the southern Philippines.
“We are very thankful that this agreement has been reached,” said MILF chief negotiator Al-Haj Murad Ibrahim. “We consider it as a major obstacle removed for our people to benefit from the peace process.”
“We are happy because with this agreement our people can experience the fruits of the peace process and allow the return of evacuees,” he added.
Murad Ebrahim, who heads the MILF peace panel, signed for his side while Arroyo’s presidential adviser on the peace process, retired Gen. Eduardo Ermita, signed for the government.
Under the agreement, entitled “Implementing Guidelines on the Rehabilitation aspect of the Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001,” the MILF will set up a body to implement government-funded aid projects, both sides must allow tens of thousands of people to return to their homes and the government will pay reparations for destroyed or damaged property.
Murad said the concentration now would be on meeting the basic needs of the people, adding that the MILF hopes Manila and the international community would provide the development funds.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar called the document, “another positive step forward in the peace process.
He promised that Malaysia would provide economic support to the Philippines and the MILF to help in the development of its southern region.
“The process of negotiations is not always easy. There are difficult issues that require consensus agreement from the negotiating parties,” he said.
On Monday night at Cyberview Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, two panels also formally inked the accord on cooperation in fighting criminal groups in Mindanao, especially kidnap-for-ransom groups.
Signing for the government panel was Norberto Gonzales, Arroyo’s adviser on special concerns.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu clarified that the cooperation is limited to parts of Mindanao where MILF areas or community is situated.
Under the agreement, the MILF is to help government forces in hunting suspect criminal syndicates hiding in MILF strongholds. The government is to furnish the MILF a copy of its so called “Order of Battle” containing the list of criminals.
Kabalu said the signing today of the rehabilitation pact indicates that the two sides are now halfway in the final implementation of the Tripoli Agreement (TA) on Peace of 2001.
The agreement’s security aspect is currently implemented on the ground with similar guidelines dated and signed at Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 7, 2001.
“What remains to be implemented is the third and final chapter of the Tripoli Agreement, which is on the ancestral domains,” Kabalu told Arab News.
Differences over the extent of the guerrillas’ role in reconstruction had impeded the talks since last year. Philippine officials had been reluctant to allow the MILF direct control of government-financed rehabilitation and development projects.
The government decided to allow the MILF to gain a measure of control through a guerrilla-established development agency, Murad said.
The MILF is the largest rebel group fighting for an independent Muslim homeland in the crushingly poor southern region of the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines.
Before a cease-fire was reached last year, fighting had displaced tens of thousands of people. Mosques, Muslim schools, houses and infrastructure were either damaged or destroyed during an army offensive two years ago.
With US assistance, the military is waging an offensive against a smaller but ruthless group, the Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. The group is holding an American missionary couple hostage in the island of Basilan.
