RIYADH, 9 October 2006 — A high official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday urged the Arroyo administration to show some flexibility so as not to allow a total breakdown of the peace negotiations between the two sides.
Aleem Abdul Aziz Mimbantas, the MILF’s vice chairman for military affairs, warned that a return to the peace table may no longer be possible once the process is allowed to collapse.
“If war does ensue, returning to the negotiating table might not be an option (anymore),” Mimbantas told Arab News by phone from his camp in Lanao del Sur province in the southern Philippines.
“The believer should not fall twice in same trap,” he said, quoting a Hadith.
Mimbantas echoed remarks by other MILF leaders that the lack of flexibility of the Philippine government’s peace panel was to blame for the impasse in the Malaysia-brokered negotiations.
Negotiators from both sides ended their latest meeting last month in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, without agreeing on what would constitute a Moro ancestral domain.
The MILF is seeking the inclusion of more than 1,000 villages in the Bangsamoro juridical entity, which will be established after the signing of a peace agreement.
But the government rejected the proposal saying only 600 villages were found to be predominantly Moro. These villages are found mainly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and other parts of central and western Mindanao.
The ARMM comprises the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi plus the city of Marawi.
Mimbantas said MILF Chairman Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim accurately expressed the sentiment of the Bangsamoro people when he warned that the government’s “dilatory tactics and treatment of the peace process as a counter-insurgency tool” could drive MILF fighters and supporters to choose other means to pursue their legitimate struggle for freedom and the right of self-determination.
Mimbantas said the Bangsamoro people may no longer countenance the way the peace process “has been transformed by the Philippine government into a circus at the expense of our legitimate struggle for a just peace and the right of self-determination.”
He said the “trap the Philippine government dealt on us and to our MNLF brothers will never happen again, God willing,” referring to the Moro National Liberation Front of Nur Misuari.
The MNLF signed in 1996 an agreement with Manila for a limited autonomy covering the autonomous region. Misuari became governor of the autonomous region but he launched a new rebellion in 2001 after losing his powers and getting stripped of his chairmanship of the MNLF by his own comrades.
Ermita’s Change of Stance
Mimbantas said he was disturbed by the published statements of presidential executive Secretary Eduardo rejecting the MILF demand relative to the ancestral domain and its territorial strand, “and his surprising utterances saying ... nobody can scare the government on anything.”
Ermita was commenting on earlier warnings by MILF leaders that fighting in Mindanao might return if the government allows the impasse in the talks to remain unresolved.
Ermita’s statement was at variance with his pronouncement at the start of the first round table meeting on March 23, 2001 at the Putrajaya in Malaysia, when he said: “We would like you to know that the president (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) sent us here to tell you that present administration is unlike the past administrations. We know pretty well that you had undergone bad experiences with the previous administrations. President Macapagal Arroyo’s administration is first of its kind that you can count on. So, rely on us to the hilt. I am certain that the ongoing negotiation will surely hear fruits, as we exert great efforts and have sincerity in solving the root cause of the Bangsamoro problem in Mindanao.”
Mimbantas said the breakdown of the peace talks is nothing strange to the MILF since “we have been used to it since the start of the negotiations.”
“What saddens us, however, is that this particular breakdown of talks has serious implications in that it has occurred at a time when countries supportive of the peace process like Malaysia, Brunei, Libya, Japan and even Sweden have come to our homeland in the form of the international monitoring team (IMT) to monitor the Peace Talks and prevent the recurrence of armed conflict and extend socio-economic assistance for the rehabilitations of war-torn areas,” he said.
“The MILF adheres to the proposition of a peaceful negotiated political settlement of the Mindanao conflict as espoused by the MILF Chairman, Sheik Salamat Hashim (May Allah bless his soul).
"Nevertheless, to reiterate Brother Chairman Al Haj Murad’s recent public declaration, we would rather not conclude a peace agreement than sign one that is a parody of our people’s noble rights for justice and freedom,” he added.
Half-Baked Solution
On Saturday, Ghadzali Jaafar, the MILF’s vice president for political affairs chief, also warned that a half-baked peace pact as the government was pushing for would not end the peace and order problem in Mindanao.
Even if the MILF agrees to disband after the signing of a peace treaty, he warned, the rebellion would go on as long as the the Moros’ quest for self-determination is not addressed.
Jaafar said other groups with a younger breed of fighters would eventually emerge because of the unresolved issue of ancestral domain.
“Believe me, the problem will continue to serve as migraine to government peace negotiators even after we’re gone. The quest for self-determination will continue to haunt the Philippine government unless the territorial issue is resolved,” Jaafar said.
He said that unlike the present leadership of the MILF, those who would lead future Moro groups could be more aggressive.
“We have aged and mellowed down which would perhaps lead us to signing a peace pact short of our forebears’ desire for an independent Muslim Mindanao,” he said.
