MILF to intensify info drive on peace process

As it waits for the green light to resume formal peace talks with the government, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will intensify the information campaign on the peace process through consultations in several areas of Mindanao in the coming weeks. In an article on the MILF Web site, MILF peace panel secretariat head Jun Mantawil said they would concentrate on Carmen, North Cotabato, Davao City, and Palembang, Sultan Kudarat. “We need to relate to the ground in view of the shaky status of the peace talks with the government ... Any miscommunication between the leadership and those in the field especially those holding firearms can be source of serious problem," he said. Mantawil said they are also considering holding consultations in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi; Labangen, Zamboanga del Sur; Batarasa, Palawan; Cotabato City for selected leaders of the indigenous tribes; Marawi City; and Jolo, Sulu. Last year, the MILF peace panel conducted forums on the current peace talks with the government in Zamboanga City, Malapatan, Sarangani; Pikit, North Cotabato; Bongao, Tawi-Tawi; Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao; Columbio, Sultan Kudarat; Pusao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao; and Marawi City. MILF ceasefire committee head Toks Ebrahim said he has already communicated with his government counterpart about these forums. “I have written them officially about these activities pursuant to the provision of the ceasefire agreement and the peace process," he said. Truce monitors Last weekend, peace efforts between the government and the MILF received a boost with the arrival of a nine-member team from Malaysia. The survey team is in Mindanao to make final preparation for the arrival and deployment of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) next month. An article on the Office of the Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process website said Lt. Gen. Datuk Raja Mohamed Affandi bin Raja Mohamed Noor, Armed Forces chief of staff of Malaysia, is the head of delegation. It added Maj. Gen. Datuk Baharom bin Hamzah is the incoming head of mission of the IMT. First deployed in Southern Philippines in 2004, the 60-man IMT is tasked to monitor the peace process between the Philippine government and the MILF. Other IMT member countries include Brunei, Libya, and Japan. Government chief negotiator Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said the governments of Norway, Indonesia, and Qatar have been invited to join the IMT. The government and MILF peace panels met in Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 8 last year for the first time in 17 months to renew their call for the resumption of the stalled peace talks. Peace talks were stalled in 2008 after the Supreme Court junked a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD). - KBK, GMANews.TV