EU offers help to speed up Mindanao peace talks

MANILA, Philippines - The powerful European Union has offered to become a facilitator in the stalled peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The offer was manifested in a resolution dated March 12 wherein the European Parliament urged the European Council and European Commission to support the Philippine government’s efforts to advance the negotiations “including by means of facilitation if requested." Manila had already tapped Malaysia as facilitator in the negotiations, but said it wanted to widen external foreign involvement “to better get negotiations moving." Aside from its offer to facilitate the peace process, the Parliament also said it is keen on providing assistance to the International Monitoring Team responsible for overseeing the ceasefire between the military and the MILF. The Parliament suggested that the role of the IMT “could be enhanced through a stronger mandate for investigations and through an agreed policy of making its findings public." The Parliament likewise asked the Philippine government to clarify the status and future of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), a controversial accord that has declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF, the largest secessionist organization in the country, collapsed in August 2008 after both sides failed to sign MOA-AD, which would have established a Bansamoro Juridical Entity as the governing body in Bangsamoro homeland. - GMANews.TV