ZAMBOANGA CITY, 25 November 2005 — To show how far the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has gone, the separatist group yesterday said it is sending a delegation to the formal opening in Manila of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games.
Governor Emmanuel Piñol of North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines earlier urged the Philippine Sports Commission and the local SEA Games organizers to invite MILF leaders, headed by Murad Ebrahim, to the event.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said Ebrahim will not be available but he is sending his deputy, Ghazali Jaafar, along with Mohaqher Iqbal, Von Al Haq and Abdul Dataya. Kabalu is also included in the delegation.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is expected to attend the opening ceremony of the SEA Games.
“We feel so honored to attend, for the first time in the MILF history, the opening ceremony of the SEA Games. And this will show to the world that we are for peace and it will show to the world the MILF’s strong commitment to the peace talks,” Kabalu told Arab News.
He said the MILF strongly supports sports development and that many of their fighters regularly play soccer and basketball.
“We could have formed a basketball or a soccer team for an exhibition game during the opening of the SEA Games. We value sports very strongly, just like our Filipino athletes, who value the importance of sports to promote peace in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world,” Kabalu said.
Piñol said formal invitations were already sent to MILF and that the government would issue safe passage to Jaafar’s group.
“We want to show the whole world and assure our neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that both the Philippine government and the MILF are really sincere and serious in achieving peace in Mindanao.
“Peace is crucial to the security, not only of Southeast Asia, but the world, in the face of continuing terror threats. The Filipinos and the ASEAN people are all united in this historical endeavor, let us all support the peace process,” said Piñol, a former boxer and sports correspondent whose province had been a battleground between government troops and MILF fighters.
Piñol said the MILF delegation would stay at the Manila Hotel near the Quirino Grandstand in the Luneta (Rizal Park), where the opening ceremony of the Games will be held.
Jaafar is the current MILF vice chairman for political affairs and Iqbal is the head of the group’s peace panel. Al-Haq is the MILF’s chairman for committee on the cessation of hostilities, and Datay is the designated chairman of the MILF ad hoc joint action group.
Aside from the MILF delegation, Piñol said, the chief of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team, Maj. Gen. Dato Phalawan Sohiemi Bin Abbas, and his Filipino counterpart Brig. Gen. Ramon Santos and Mohammad bin Dolorfino, were also invited.
Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim separatist group, in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of fighting in the troubled, but mineral-rich region of Mindanao.
“This is a good opportunity to show the ASEAN and international leaders that the peace efforts between the Arroyo government and the MILF are going well and that this is resulting in a stronger campaign against terrorism in the region,” Piñol said.
He also urged government and rebel peace negotiators to work closely together toward building an atmosphere that would contribute to stability pending completion of the peace process.
He said he submitted a proposal to the government and MILF cease-fire committees for a collaborative effort between the rebel group and North Cotabato to undertake development and rehabilitation projects in the province.
“My proposal covers repair and rehabilitation of the Buliok town road network, and the provincial government will provide the equipment, while the MILF will assure us the safety of the workers and equipment.”
“And the establishment of a pilot farm identified by the MILF, which we will help plant and develop using either oil palm or hybrid coconut seedlings. This will provide a source of alternative livelihood for everybody, especially the rebels,” he said.
