Catholic bishop favors Cha-cha for peace with MILF

A Mindanao bishop is throwing his support behind possible amendments to the 1987 Constitution, if this will mean securing a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Marawi Bishop Edwin De La Peña sees no problem with Charter change (Cha-cha) if only to accommodate "valid" demands of the MILF in the peace process. “We can change some provision in the Constitution… that would be the best way to go forward," said De La Peña, in an article on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site. Earlier, government negotiators said they are open to recommending changes to the Constitution if the peace process demands such amendments. The MILF, which started peace talks with the government in 1997, is seeking an "expanded" Muslim autonomy in some areas in Mindanao. In 2008, the Arroyo administration and the MILF forged a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD), but the Supreme Court junked it because it was unconstitutional. The high court's rejection of the MOA-AD triggered fresh fighting between government and MILF troops. But President Benigno Aquino III maintained that Cha-cha proposals would still have to be studied first. Moves to tinker with the Charter initiated during the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration did not prosper, amid claims by critics that amending the 1987 Constitution might lead to Arroyo and her allies' longer stay in power. — LBG, GMANews.TV