Palace downplays pullout of Malaysia from Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang on Friday tried to downplay the pullout of Malaysian units from Mindanao, an act widely seen as a signal of impatience over the stalled peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). On Friday, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye thanked Malaysia for its support for the peace talks but added that there were other countries who have volunteered to replace the Malaysian units who are going to be pulled out. The remark came a day after Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that Malaysia is likely to start pulling out their personnel from the IMT next month. In an earlier report, Najib also urged Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to step up efforts to reach a permanent peace deal, adding that Malaysia's military chief will visit the Philippines by the end of this month to formally convey Malaysia's decision. An initial batch of 21 Malaysian troops will leave the southern Philippines on May 10, leaving about 30 personnel to remain for some time, Najib said. The Malaysian official was also quoted saying that they “cannot and should not be there as part of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) indefinitely. There has to be some degree of finality in terms of our presence there." For his part, Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim had said they would not be renewing their participation in the IMT when their term ends in September unless there is a concrete development in the peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF. Brunei, through its local media, had said that it would follow Malaysia if it pulls out form the IMT. Malaysia has the biggest contingent in the IMT with 60 personnel. It is followed by Brunei with 10. The other countries in the IMT are Libya and Japan. But for Bunye, there was nothing surprising or odd about the withdrawal of the IMT members which he attributed to the completion of their tours of duty and nothing more. He said that those who arrived early are the one who are leaving in May, while the rest of the Malaysian contingent will serve until the term of the IMT ends late August. “Unang-una ay nagpapasalamat tayo sa nagging kontribusyon ng Malaysian government bilang napakahalagang bahagi ng IMT. Sa ating pagkakalam itong commitment nila ay mamalagi dito up to August but they came in batches so hindi lahat matapos in August," he said. “May mga termino ay matatapos ng mas maaga so iyung tour of duty ng ilan magtatapos sa May so that is normally expected and we would like to thank them for their very valuable contribution to the peace efforts," he added. - GMANews.TV