MILF counting days left until signing of peace pact

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has started an online countdown of the days left for President Gloria Macapaga-Arroyo to sign an interim peace pact with it. Since last weekend, most pages in the MILF's website featured a counter at the bottom of the page indicating how much time both parties have. The message gave the number of days "left until GRP-MILF (Government of the Republic of the Philippines-MILF) to sign Interim Agreement (June 30)!"

While the counter was not visible in the home page, it could be seen in the other pages in the site, including the "About Luwaran" section. The MILF and the GRP started peace talks in 1997, but the government under then President Joseph Estrada broke off talks and declared an all-out war against the group in 2000. Peace efforts resumed in 2001 after President Arroyo took over, but both sides have yet to reach an agreement. The peace talks were endangered anew in 2008 after the Supreme Court junked a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD). Last April 29, Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol led provincial officials in filing a petition for Prohibition and Mandamus before the Supreme Court. They asked the high court to compel the national government to make public the contents of a reported draft interim peace agreement. But they also asked it to restrain government from signing any interim peace agreement unless it is made public and consultations are properly conducted. — LBG, GMANews.TV