GRP, MILF okay extension of IMT tour of duty to 3 months

Written by Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews

Wednesday, 22 August 2007 12 24 37 http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3088&Itemid=75

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/22 August) – The tour of duty of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) which monitors the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will be extended to three more months after its expiration on August 30. The MILF in a meeting with GRP-MILF peace talks facilitator, Datuk Othman bin Abdul Razak of Malaysia and his party at Camp Darpanan afternoon of August 21, agreed to the extension for three months “subject to the concurrence of the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) and to be confirmed at the Executive Meeting of the Panels of both Parties before the expiry date of the tour of duty of the IMT” on August 30. Philippine government peace panel chair Rodolfo Garcia, former Armed Forces deputy chief of staff, told MindaNews they are sending a letter to the Malaysian facilitator tonight to express their agreement to the extension. The MILF’s agreement was contained in a five-paragraph statement of the MILF Central Committee which was signed by Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the Central Committee’s Committee on Information and concurrent chair of the MILF peace panel. The statement also noted that the MILF “understands the reasons” of the Philippine government in “postponing” the 14th Exploratory Talks scheduled on August 22 to 24 in Kuala Lumpur, as conveyed to them by the Malaysian facilitator. The Philippine government’s peace panel, according to the facilitator, sought for more time to allow it “more space to seek clear mandate and guidelines from its Principal” and to enable the Philippine government “to drop the criminal cases filed against 67 members of the MILF in the July 10, 2007 Basilan incident.” The August 22 peace talks, the first since the talks ended in an impasse in early September 2006, would have tackled, among others, the renewal of the Terms of Reference of the IMT which expires September 8. Without the renewal, the IMT, comprising Malaysia, Libya, Brunei and Japan, would have no mandate and would likely pull out of Mindanao if the panels cannot meet before then, a government source told MindaNews Tuesday. But MILF member Datu Michael Mastura told MindaNews that what is expiring is not the TOR but the Tour of Duty on August 30. Without a panel-level agreement, however, the IMT would have no mandate to operate. The Tour of Duty of the IMT since 2004 had always been for 12 months. Ms Arroyo announced before the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) general assembly in Makati City on August 13 that she had issued three security directives, second of which is to "hold urgent talks with the MILF under the Malaysian auspices to contain and resolve the Basilan-Sulu situation." "Make it clear that the government has to secure its forces and areas as part of peace effort and law enforcement but will not overrun MILF areas," she said. In the same assembly, Ms Arroyo said, "and if it would not adversely affect the Philippine negotiating position and provoke alarm among Christians, a pilot implementation of the envisioned Muslim ancestral domain regime should be undertaken to demonstrate our sincerity to achieve peace." "We've declared ancestral domain among indigenous peoples and I don't see why anybody should be scared if there is ancestral domain with our Muslim people," she said. It was the first time Ms Arroyo spoke on ancestral domain for the Moro and the first time since she assumed the presidency in January 2001 that she announced the date of the peace talks. Four days later, on Friday, August 17, the Cabinet Cluster on Security meeting with the President appeared to have overturned her security directive, apparently also with her concurrence. Malacañang sources told MindaNews that "hawks" in the Cluster insisted on a return to the government proposal of "enhanced autonomy," a proposal the MILF had rejected back in 2003, and which, expectedly, will not break the 11-month long impasse in the talks. The two panels reached an impasse in early September last year over the issue on territory under the ancestral domain agenda. The government panel under then chair Silvestre Afable had found a way out of the impasse by invoking the right to self-determination, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, and which the MILF was expected to accept during the next peace talks. The last time the panels met after the September 2006 impasse was in December last year, for clarifications only. This year, the August 22 talks would have been the first. Afable, however, was suddenly taken out of the panel in mid-July when President Arroyo accepted his courtesy resignation. In his stead, Oblate priest Eliseo "Jun" Mercado Jr. was named chair but he opted against accepting after five days, after clarifying with the MILF leadership about their objections to his appointment. In Mercado's stead, government peace panel member and former Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Rodolfo Garcia, a retired general, was named chair. Garcia told a press conference in Malacanang Tuesday that they would move for the rescheduling of the talks between the first and second week of September before the onset of the Ramadhan. The month-long fasting starts September 13. Garcia apologized to the MILF panel for the late notification of the postponement. MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal was quoted by the MILF website, luwaran.com as saying he accepts the apology of Garcia “for the inconvenience on our part for the last minute postponement.” Iqbal told MIndaNews the Malaysian facilitator informed them at around 1 a.m. of Saturday, August 18, that the August 22 talks would not push through. The MILF panel, which was already in Manila. was supposed to leave for Kuala Lumpur that day. Iqbal, however, was quoted by luwaran.com as saying the problem was not with the government negotiators but with the government itself. He said Garcia’s telling the Malaysian facilitator that he did not get "clear guidelines" from the government “is an indication of his sincerity and integrity.” The peace panel panels were also supposed to consider during the August 22 talks the reactivation of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) under the Joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (Joint CCCH). The AHJAG is a mechanism whereby both the government and MILF join forces to run after criminals and terrorists in so-called MILF areas. The AHJAG has ceased to exist since the guidelines were not renewed upon expiration on June 21. Both panels did allow its AHJAG members a few days to help rescue then kidnapped priest Giancarlo Bossi. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 22 August 2007 18 00 14 ) From MindaNews