It was brought to the public knowledge through media about the on-going peace process between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao.
This peace process started from 1997 during the administration of President Fidel Ramos up to the present administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The sole objective is to find a negotiated political solution to the Bangsamoro problem.
The formal peace talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) have started during the administration of President Fidel Ramos on 1997 and it continued to the administration of President Joseph E. Estrada up to the present administration which is under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The MILF main agenda in negotiating with the Philippine government is “how to solve the Bangsamoro Problem” which prompted both negotiating parties to examine the problem, understand the roots and finally to offer a final solution.
The MILF's view is always in line with its Islamic ideology that the most civilized and practical way to solve the Bangsamoro problem in Mindanao is through a negotiated political settlement of this conflict.
But the peace talk negotiations have been always interrupted by skirmishes in the ground particularly the two major wars launched by the Philippine government against the MILF.
The first was the all-out war unleashed by ousted President Joseph Estrada on March 20, 2000 and the second by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on February 11, 2003 with the objective of demolishing the MILF forces in Mindanao. This prompted the MILF to declare all-out Jihad using guerilla warfare against the Philippine forces. As a result, thousands of government soldiers and MILF freedom fighters were killed or wounded and a big number of civilians killed or wounded and about a million people mostly Bangsamoro displaced from their home, in addition to a vast farming and cultivated land spoilt and damaged.
Due to the alarming economic down turn of the country and the upsetting peace and order in Mindanao as a result of the conflict, Arroyo has no other option except to initiate the resumption of peace talks with the MILF. Thus, the Philippine government under the Arroyo administration had requested Malaysian government through Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammad to help convince the MILF to go back to the negotiating table to restart the abandoned peace process.
The MILF responded positively to the resumption of the talks but made the following preconditions:
a) To respect and implement all previous agreements;
b) The venue of the talks must be in a neutral foreign state;
c) The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) or any member state acts as mediator or facilitator; and
d) The pullout of government forces from occupied acknowledged camps of the MILF; e) and to drop all criminal cases against the MILF leaders.
e) and to drop all criminal cases against the MILF leaders.
The Peace Process Marches On
In the name of peace both parties has reached compromises which led to the resumption of formal peace talks between the two Parties that continues until today under the facilitation of the Government of Malaysia.
During the present government administration several agreements were made between the MILF and GRP.
Among them are the Agreement on the General Framework for the Resumption of Peace Talks between the GRP and MILF on March 24, 2000 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and followed by the Agreement on Peace between the GRP and the MILF on June 22, 2001 at Tripoli, Libya.
The Tripoli's Agreement on Peace between GRP and MILF is considered as "mother agreement" as it became a basis of all succeeding talks, agreements, joint statements, joint communiqués, press statements, and other documents related to the peace process.
It has three main aspects, security, relief and rehabilitation, and ancestral domain, which approximated the essentials of the nine issues and concerns embodied in the single agenda of the peace talks presented by the MILF at the outset of the talks.
And then it was followed by series of formal peace talks and exploratory talks between the two Parties under the facilitation of the Government of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.
During these talks, the Parties succeeded to hurdle various important issues including and ranging from the activation and composition of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and its Terms of Reference (TOR), in which Brunei Darussalam is among the OIC country members that play a vital role through its ten (10) strong and dedicated military personnel, in monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the MILF and the GRP ; the conduct of the Joint Needs Assessment in the conflict affected areas in Mindanao by the World Bank; setting the guidelines for accreditation of observers during the formal talks; activation of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) and the adoption of the Interim Guidelines for its operationalization, and adoption of at least 25 consensus points of the various strands of ancestral domain aspect of the Tripoli Agreement of 2001.
Most importantly, during the latest exploratory talk which was held on 6-7 February, 2006 at Port Dickson, Malaysia the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front negotiators, as quoted in Manila Inquirer News said that they had reached a preliminary deal on the controversial issue of ancestral lands.
As the two Parties succeeded to hurdle the last unresolved issues on the ancestral domain aspect of the Tripoli Agreement of 2001, thereby bringing to about 31 consensus points signed by the Parties.
Two days of preliminary peace talks in Malaysia ended with both parties "successfully wrapping up the consensus points of the ancestral domain issue," negotiators from the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said in a joint statement.
"The ancestral domain agreement may be signed by late March 2006, simultaneously with the inception of the formal talks," they said. The parties had agreed to determine the scope of the Moro homeland based on technical maps and data submitted by both parties, it said. They settled on measures to address "the legitimate grievances" of the Moro people "arising from the unjust dispossession and/or marginalization" and "their right to use and develop their ancestral domain and ancestral lands."
They also reached agreement on economic cooperation, said the statement. The two Parties also agreed, among others, to establish a joint advocacy committee to conduct campaign to enlighten the people on the peace process and the benefits derived therein once the comprehensive compact is signed, and a Leadership and Management Institute for the Bangsamoro emerging leaders and professionals in Cotabato City.
Silvestre Afable, who led the Philippine government delegation, was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency that the Philippine government was committed to achieving peace and "very happy that the MILF had responded with seriousness and commitment." He predicted that they would reach their goal sooner than expected.
MILF delegation leader Mohagher Iqbal said their hope of achieving a comprehensive and durable peace in Mindanao was "getting nearer and nearer." Among the issues to be discussed was a political solution between the two parties, he said.
The joint statement also said that the two parties agreed in principle to the establishment of a Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute in Cotabato City as a capacity building center for.
Afable, as quoted by voanews.com says he is confident of reaching a final agreement for many reasons, especially the good faith of the MILF representatives he is dealing with. "I have experience across the negotiating table that there is a very good spirit of give-and-take," he added saying "We are dealing with a very reasonable group who share certain aspirations with our government to have permanent peace in Mindanao and to finally end this conflict".
Afable says there is also very strong international support from Southeast Asian nations, the United States and the European Union. He says another positive factor is the stability in Mindanao, referring to a cease-fire that has been in place for several years.
Malaysia has been mediating in peace talks between Manila and the 12,000-strong MILF, at the same time monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in the ground through its 50 strong and dedicated military personnel together with other OIC country members such as Brunei, and Libya.
The MILF has been demanding that it be granted rights over its "ancestral domain" or homeland which traditionally means the entire Mindanao, where they have been fighting to establish an independent Islamic state.
As everyone is aware of the political, security and economic instability in Mindanao definitely affects the stability of the whole region particularly the immediate neighboring Southeast Asia countries. This draws concern being peace loving people about the development of the on going peace process between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that aims to reach a genuine and just solution to the centuries-old problem in Mindanao.
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