Govt peace panel welcomes MILF's 'sub-state' proposal

A government peace panel on Thursday welcomed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's announcement that it would no longer pursue its separatist moves, and instead, it would steer towards the creation of a "sub-state." "We welcome the announcement of the MILF that they are no longer demanding an independent state," said Lawyer Marvic Leonen, head of the government negotiating panel for the Mindanao peace talks. "This will definitely pave the way to finding an understanding for a politically feasible arrangement that maintains the territorial integrity and the fundamental premise of people's sovereignty in one Republic," added Leonen, who is also the dean of the University of the Philippines Law School. Leonen issued the statement after MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said Wednesday his team has decided to give up efforts for the creation of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE). The memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) that would have paved the way for the creation of the BJE was declared by Supreme Court (SC) unconstitutional on Oct. 14, 2008. Under the MOA-AD, the BJE covers the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) plus 712 villages in five provinces. In its ruling, the SC argued there were no proper consultations with groups and sectors that would be affected by the MOA. Leonen vowed the government peace panel would exhaust all efforts to help bring lasting peace in the southern Philippine region, which has long been rocked by bloody armed confrontations. "We will listen to their proposals and are willing to work with them to find a just, comprehensive and lasting peace," said Leonen. On Wednesday, Iqbal said that under its new proposed setup, the MILF would recognize the power of the "central government" as long as the power of the sub-state that would be created for the Bangsamoro people would be defined. He said the sub-state would exercise all government functions except those on national defense, foreign affairs, currency, and postal services, which would all be exclusively the job of the central government. He also said a Moro sub-state would not have soldiers but only internal security forces. The MILF was formed in 1984 by former members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The breakaway group thought it was more wise to split after being frustrated with the non-implementation of the Tripoli Agreement in 1977 between the Marcos regime and the MNLF. The Tripoli Agreement was signed by then MNLF chairman Nur Misuari and the Philippine government in 1976. It was the first peace pact ever signed for peace in Mindanao. The SC's decision to trash the MOA-AD in 2008 led to the failure of peace negotiations, prompting MILF "rogue" leaders – Ameril Umbra Kato, Abdullah Macapaar and Aleem Pangalian – to stage attacks on various civilian targets in Central Mindanao. President Benigno Simeon Aquino III said in his first State of the Nation Address in July that he is hoping that the peace talks with the MILF would resume after the month-long Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting that began on August 9 and ended on September 11. The Malaysian government has been brokering the peace talks between the MILF and government since the late 1990s. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV