Palace rebuffs negotiator’s negative view on pact with MILF

Malacañang has rebuffed the negative forecast of a government peace panel member that a deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was unlikely before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term ends this June. According to Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, the Palace was still optimistic of a win-win consensus with the MILF despite the sticky issue of expanded autonomy in some parts of Mindanao. “We respect the opinion of [peace panel member Ronald Adamat] but we are still very optimistic that a peace pact between the MILF and the government can be signed before the end of the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo," Remonde said on government-run dzRB radio. Adamat earlier said that during consultations last week, local government officials had opposed the proposal of the MILF to expand the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). He said officials who had objected to the expanded autonomy included those from the provinces of Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. Citing results of the consultations, Adamat said that according to leaders of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, any agreement signed between the government and the MILF might supplant the 1996 peace deal between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front. But Remonde said the Palace has faith in the government negotiators’ abilities and the sincerity of the MILF and the third-party facilitators that include Malaysia and the International Contact Group. “We are still optimistic a win-win consensus can still be achieved [in the] process [of] consultations," he said. The government and the MILF resumed peace talks late last year with the suspension of offensive military operations. Peace efforts between the two parties were stalled in 2008 when rogue MILF commanders led attacks on parts of Mindanao, after the Supreme Court junked a deal on ancestral domain. Meanwhile, the MILF congratulated the former head of the Brunei international monitoring team contingent, Lt. Col. Hj Aminuddin Ihsan Bin POKSM DASP Hj Abidin, for his promotion. It said Aminuddin was promoted recently to Major General and was now appointed chief of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF). Aminuddin's stint in the international monitoring team in Mindanao was between October 2004 and August 2005. The MILF sent a congratulatory message to Aminuddin for his promotion and assumption as chief of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. Signing the message was MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal. “The leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has the pleasure to extend to Your Excellency its warm felicitations and heartfelt congratulations for your recent promotion as major general and chief of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF)," said the letter, excerpts of which were posted on the MILF Website (www.luwaran.net) on Saturday. Iqbal said Aminuddin's "colorful tour of duty" had allowed the people of Brunei to see "the sufferings of their Moro brethren who [have been] oppressed by their colonizers since the age of colonization." — NPA, GMANews.TV