No secret deal with MILF, Palace assures public

The Aquino administration on Friday assured the public that there will be no secret deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) despite the secret meeting President Benigno Aquino III held with Al Haj Murad Ibrahim in Tokyo. "No secret deal was forged at the time (when the President met with Murad). We have learned from the MOA AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain)," Marvic Leonen, who heads the government panel talking peace with the MILF, said at a press briefing in Malacañang. Leonen was referring to the agreement that the Arroyo administration entered into with the MILF three years ago which was declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The failure to implement the MOA AD led to the series of attacks by rogue MILF units in some parts of Central Mindanao and Sarangani province which displaced thousands of residents. Leonen said the Aquino administration is now reconnecting with the MILF through the informal but high level meeting in Tokyo, Japan Thursday evening. "Three years ago this exact date, the MOA AD was issued a temporary restraining order and I think that gives a very stark contrast, hindi namin sinasadya but the point is here we are reconnecting with the MILF on a very sincere plane," he said.

Leonen refused to give details as to what was discussed during the meeting but said that the MILF, at least three times, expressed confidence in the Aquino administration. "We are confident with your administration. You are unlike the previous administration, we know that you are sincere," Leonen quoted Murad as saying to Aquino. The President, on the other hand, told Murad on many occasions: "I can only commit that which I can do and I will do whatever it is that I can commit." Leonen said Aquino and Murad did not do any negotiation but discussed how to fast track the process. He said the government committed and delivered the message that it is sincere in the implementation of a just, comprehensive and lasting agreement that is feasible, practical and viable politically and economically that can be delivered by the President. He said the meeting boosted the negotiating process but whether it becomes a big leap depends on how the parties will come back to the negotiating table. He said the President asked the MILF several concerns such as security, peace and order, economy and politics, among others. Why Japan? When asked why they chose to meet in Japan, Leonen said the MILF requested that the meeting be held in one of the international contact group countries and the closest is Japan. The other countries were Turkey, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia. He added the meeting was held in secret because they "wanted security, we wanted an environment free from any distracting agenda. So therefore, we met there. So it was a very short trip." "(The meeting) cannot be held while there is media outside, because of course, this is a first, historic meeting between the President and the chair of the MILF," he said. Leonen reiterated that MILF is no longer considered as a secessionist group as their proposal no longer include independence anymore. "They are not asking to be a separate state. Their proposal is that they be considered Filipino citizens but with Bangsamoro as a national identity. There is no international law or domestic law implication of the government meeting with a group that it wants seriously to have peace with in any other place in the entire planet," he said. Asked if President Aquino would now meet with the leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front-New People’s Army, Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Deles said the meeting Murad will not be a precedent. "These are two separate tables (MILF and CPP-NDF-NPA), we do at each table what has to be done. One table does not set any precedent for the other table," she said during the briefing. — RSJ, GMA News