MANILA: The appointment of a new chairman for the government peace panel is a "positive step" but is "not enough" to convince the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leadership to resume peace talks, the rebel's chief negotiator said yesterday.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis as the new chairman of the government negotiating panel, which was abolished last September following hostilities in central Mindanao.
"If we try to analyze the appointment of Seguis, well it's a positive step but it's a small step as far as the peace process is concerned," MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said yesterday.
"Well, (the appointment is) not a very big event, it was just a sort of making up for the lost opportunities as far as the GRP and MILF peace talks is concerned," he said.
Iqbal said the MILF leadership remains firm that the government should first sign the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain before the rebels agree to return to the negotiating table.
He stressed that the MILF will not renegotiate the MOA-AD.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita had earlier said government is optimistic peace talks could resume within December once the GRP peace panel is reconstituted.
But Iqbal said: "Unless this issue (MOA-AD) is resolved then I don't think we can return to the negotiating table. We should finish ancestral domain before we can talk of a political settlement. You cannot jump to the final agenda, we have to finish ancestral domain," Iqbal said.
The Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the signing of the MOA-AD, which would have paved the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, in early August and subsequently judged the accord unconstitutional.
The issuance of the TRO was soon followed by attacks on civilian communities by MILF units, which triggered the continuing hostilities in central Mindanao.
Iqbal admitted he has no idea how the issue of the MOA-AD will be resolved.
— With input from agencies
