IMT: Peace deal is safe

No group capable of spoiling Bangsamoro agreement, says mission head

COTABATO CITY: There is no armed group in Mindanao powerful enough to scuttle the peace deal between the Philippines government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, according to the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team.

“We call them spoilers. They have personal or organisational agenda to sabotage the deal. But at present, we don’t see any group capable of playing the role of spoiler,” said the IMT Head of Mission Major General Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohd Yusoff.

“If they combine forces, there is a possibility they may have an impact but not derail the peace deal,” he said.

Abdul Rahim said everybody would want a share of the pie once there was economic development in southern Philippines as a result of the Bangsamoro peace agreement.

“The cake is small (as the proposed Bangsamoro state will be 30% to 40% of the land area in Mindanao). Those who don’t get the cake will say that it is bitter,” he said.

The IMT’s role in the Mindanao conflict is to ensure that there are no hostilities on the ground so the peace panels can concentrate on their work to end the four-decade-long armed unrest.

“If there is no peace, panel members will be talking about firefights instead,” he said at the IMT headquarters here.

When IMT started duty in Mindanao, firefights between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) soldiers were reduced to 200 a year compared to between 600 and 700 a year from 2001 to 2003.

Since the firefight in Basilan in October last year, he said there had been no armed hostility between the government and Moro forces.

Abdul Rahim stressed that the IMT were not peacekeepers but a body to monitor the ceasefire between AFP and MILF.

“Other hostilities among other groups, like Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, are not our mandate,” he said.

The IMT head said his 55-member team, including 19 Malaysians from the armed forces, police and civil service, had gained the confidence of the AFP and MILF because of its neutrality.

“Since they are fighting among themselves, they need a neutral party. We don’t take sides and we are fair,” he said,

He added that the team, which also included Brunei, Indonesia and Japan, managed to pacify, neutralise and negotiate with the AFP and MILF to bring down violations of the ceasefire.

“We have gained their respect. When we speak, they listen,” he said.

Abdul Rahim noted that three months before the signing of Monday’s framework agreement in Manila, there was a lull in the security situation in the conflict zones.

“It was as if they could see the light at the end of the tunnel. There was a feel good feeling in the air.”