PHL gov't, MILF to assess ongoing ceasefire in Mindanao

The ceasefire committees of the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will meet with an international peacekeeper team this month to take a closer look at the ongoing ceasefire in Mindanao. Members of the government and MILF’s Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the International Monitoring Team (IMT) agreed to conduct the “appraisal caucus," the Islamist group said Saturday. The appraisal caucus’ objectives include “improving performance along respective mandates, enhancement of teamwork and cooperation, and reconciliation of baseline data, particularly on ceasefire-related cases," the MILF said. The ceasefire accord between the government and MILF stands on the CCCH, the Malaysia-led IMT, the Local Monitoring Teams, and the Adhoc Joint Action Group. IMT members include representatives from the governments of Malaysia, Brunei, Libya, Japan, and Norway, the European Union, Nonviolent Peaceforce, Mindanao Human Rights Action Center, Mindanao Peoples Caucus, and Moslem Organization of Government Employees and Professionals. The IMT monitors the implementation of the security, humanitarian, human rights, development, socio-economic and civilian protection components of the government-MILF peace process. The MILF said the government and MILF forces’ confrontations decreased from 608 incidents in 2002 to seven in 2006. It said there were eight incidents of confrontations in 2007, but the number rose to 218 in 2008 before going down again to 115 in 2009. There were three incidents of confrontation in 2010. “Data for 2011 will be one of the results of the appraisal," the MILF said. — JE, GMA News