Peace deal in peril
MILF says it remains revolutionary until agreement with gov’t is implemented
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday told the Senate that it remains a revolutionary organization until the peace agreement it signed with the government is fully implemented.
“Until the peace agreement is fully implemented, we will remain to be a revolutionary organization,” Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF negotiator for the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), said in a letter to the Senate Committee on Public Order which is investigating the massacre of 44 police commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January 25.
“Please bear with us as we engage the institution of the Philippine Senate officially for the first time. The MILF is a revolutionary organization. While we may have signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government after 18 years of intermittent war and negotiations, that peace agreement has yet to be implemented,” Iqbal emphasized.
Senators alarmed
Iqbal’s statement raised alarm among senators, with Senate
President Franklin Drilon demanding the government peace negotiators to explain the complexities of the letter of the MILF peace negotiator as this has an effect on the fate of the BBL pending in Congress
But Malacañang remains unfazed by Iqbal’s statement.
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said what is important for the government is to work toward the implementation of the peace agreement.
Iqbal’s letter was read before the committee chaired by Sen. Grace Poe by Rashid Ladiasan, chairman of the MILF Committee on Cessation of Hostilities. The MILF peace negotiator was a no-show for the second straight day at the Senate hearing.
MILF no-show
Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, told radio DZRH that there will be no MILF official attending the separate hearings of Congress on the Mamasapano carnage until their own investigation is completed.
But Professor Miriam Coronel Ferrer, chairperson of the government peace negotiating panel, said the MILF Central Committee has given the go signal for Iqbal to appear before the Poe committee.
Ferrer stressed that it would be important for the MILF leadership to appear before a Senate committee.
Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter S. Cayetano questioned why the government has to negotiate with the MILF, which allegedly coddled suspected terrorists in its own area of influence.
Despite saying that the MILF remains revolutionary, Iqbal stressed that the MILF is fully committed as the Senate in the search for truth and justice.”
MILF returning SAF belongings
He also said that “the MILF has decided to return the firearms and any retrievable personal effects of the fallen SAF commandos in deference to the peace process and the recognition of the MILF that it never wanted that unfortunate incident last January 25 in Mamasapano in Maguindanao to happen.”
“Perhaps, in a couple of days the MILF will be able to finish the internal process of accounting for the materials to pave the way for their return,” Iqbal said.
“This was the first time since 2011 that fighting erupted between government and MILF forces,” Iqbal added.
Worrisome dev’t
Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Iqbal’s letter is a direct contradiction to testimonies before his committee that both the national government and MILF have signed a framework agreement for peace.
Marcos said his committee has been told that both sides are on a ceasefire mode but this was broken by the Jan. 25 Mamasapano incident.
“This is a worrisome development. Iqbal has to come (to the Senate) to explain that language,” said Marcos, chairman of the Senate Local Government committee.
Marcos raised the alarm when Poe was presiding over the second day of the hearing on the Mamasapano incident.
The incident in an MILF-influenced area at Mamasapano involved fighters of the MILF, private armed groups, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway group from the MILF.
Poe said that she would entertain the possibility of Iqbal asking for closed-door sessions on the incident but would not authorize an executive session if it would jeopardize national security and would have the purpose of protecting certain individuals.
Iqbal’s presence before the committee would demonstrate MILF’s sincerity and good faith in having a stable peace agreement with the Philippine government, Poe stressed.
But Jaafar said in a radio interview that how could the MILF be not sincere when the group is still talking with the Philippine government until now after 18 years. (With reports from Madel Sabater Namit and Edd K. Usman)