Moro rebel group joins calls for resumption of govt-MILF peace negotiations

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has joined civil society’s calls for the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to resume peace negotiations. MNLF Chairman Muslimin G. Sema said the government and the MILF should tap the ceasefire mechanism and create a joint ad-hoc anti-crime group to solve the intermittent clashed. "If both parties respect and follow their past agreements, it will show that the government and the MILF are sincere in the southern peace process," Mr. Sema said. The MILF is a breakaway group of the MNLF which signed a peace agreement with the government more than 10 years ago. The MILF is pushing for a larger Muslim state in Mindanao from the existing the autonomous Muslim region, which is an offshoot of the 1996 peace agreement between the government and the MNLF. The signing of an agreement for a larger Moro homeland, called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, was halted by the Supreme Court in August following complaints from local government units and national politicians on the proposal’s constitutionality. Mr. Sema said they have forwarded their concerns to the MILF central committee and to Interior Secretary Ronaldo V. Puno and Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. He said the MNLF is backing the peace talks for the "betterment of the Bangsamoro in Mindanao." He said the MNLF does not want to see years of negotiations wasted by conflict. "The fight for a genuine self-rule for the Bangsamoro is not exclusive to the MNLF, thus we support the MILF... our main concern is the general welfare of the Moros in Mindanao." Earlier, the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, Inc., an umbrella organization of 168 Moro groups in Mindanao called on the two parties to open their doors for a new round of negotiations. The Arroyo administration has shifted its approach in the peace process in the context of disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation (DDR). Echoing the MILF’s statement, Mr. Sema said the new DDR should be last in the peace agenda for the negotiations to move on. — Darwin T. Wee, BusinessWorld