THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) panel will advise its Central Committee to reject the government peace panel’s proposed peace deal, the chief negotiator in peace talks with the MILF said on Tuesday.
Government panel chairman Marvic Leonen made the announcement in a videoconference with Palace reporters after formal negotiations with the MILF in Kuala Lumpur, which ended a day earlier than scheduled.
“Last night the MILF studied the [government] proposal and decided to advise the [government panel] this morning that it will be advising its central committee to reject the proposal. However, the MILF panel did not return the document but they said they needed the document to show to their central committee for their decision,” Leonen said.
He said on Monday the government panel submitted to the MILF its proposed “three-for-one approach” in solving the problems of the Bangsamoro which is “different from the MILF’s comprehensive compact,” and prescribes autonomy and did not provide for constitutional amendments.
“Be that as it may, the situation we have now is that the parties have their various positions on the table. It is not unusual in negotiations that one of the parties takes a hard-line position on the contents of the initial documents of another party. We are going to report to the President, await his instructions and his mandate,” Leonen said.
He said the government proposal considers the principle “that whatever proposal comes out requires the consent of the governed and is within the bounds of our national sovereignty, territorial integrity and Philippine Constitution, as well as its pertinent laws.”
“It is, likewise, significant to point out that the peace accord is a first document, a work in progress. While it lays down the framework of government’s negotiating position, it opens the door for further consultations with the different stakeholders,” Leonen said.
Leonen said while others may be “quick to judge the government’s sincerity on the basis of how similar or different the proposals are…it is better for the proposals to be honestly different in order to be able to provide more space at the negotiating table to discuss the issues that truly matter to both parties and find an agreeable middle ground.”
Leonen said the government panel is hoping to meet with the MILF panel again “as soon as possible.”
He said in the meantime, the government panel members would engage stakeholders “to explain the contents of our proposal and get further feedback on this particular approach.”
Leonen said the government proposal does not refer to an expansion of the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or a list of areas to be incorporated into a new region.
“We find that it is not meaningful or useful that we talk about either shrinkage or expansion of the current region. What we do, however, is provide a formula and that formula is [having] the parties sitting together in genuine partnership to be able to achieve the kind of genuine self-governance or autonomy. I think that is being sought by both sides,” he said.
Chief peace negotiator Teresita Deles said, “From the start we knew this was not going to be easy, that despite the high expectations we knew that there would be problems and major problems on the table.”
Leonen described the government proposal as a “principled, realistic, and practical proposal that follows a comprehensive three-for-one approach or three components for one solution to the Bangsamoro problem—social services and economic development, political settlement with the MILF, and cultural, historical acknowledgment.
He said one important component in the government proposal is the creation of the Bangsamoro Commission “established on the principles of inclusivity and will be composed of the government, the MILF and stakeholders in the Mindanao peace process.”
Leonen said that during the meeting, the MILF referred to Ustadz Amiril Umbra Kato as bugat or one who does not obey an order, while the government panel said the government does not consider Kato as an MILF member and, as such, no longer covered by the ceasefire agreement.
Kato has not been taken out of the roster of the MILF but a high-ranking officer said that a resolution has been filed with the group’s central committee to decide on the matter.
“Kato still has the slim chance to reconsider his decision to create another organization and army, which he called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters,” said Muhammad Ameen, chairman of the MILF secretariat, in an Internet posting on Tuesday at the MILF web site.
Thus, Kato could not be considered renegade as yet, he said.
(With M. Cayon and Z. Solmerin)
