MILF: Bangsamoro deal needs Cha-cha

From the Daily Tribune (Jan 18): MILF: Bangsamoro deal needs Cha-cha

While the Aquino administration had insisted that Charter change (Cha-cha) is not needed to put up the so-called Bangsamoro substate under an agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is forged, MILF spokesman Mohaguer Iqbal said the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement can be implemented only after the Constitution is amended.

Before a forum held by the Foreign Correspondents Association, Iqbal said while the government believes there is no need for Charter change and the present set-up can accommodate it, the MILF believes Charter change is required, Iqbal said. He hinted that the government side in the peace negotiations already knows the position of the MILF on the need for constitutional amendments for the agreement to take effect.

The so-called memorandum of agreement for ancestral domain (MoA-AD) signed between the MILF and the previous administration was struck down by the Supreme Court for being unconstitutional. That agreement also required amendments in the Constitution for its implementation.  “We will finish peace talks first before discussing Cha-cha,” Iqbal added. Iqbal was accompanied by Abdulla Camlian, also member of the MILF peace panel, and MILF peace panel consultant, Sukrey Saaber. The forum also tackled prospects for the country in 2013 in the areas of security, politics and economy and business.

The framework agreement has been assailed by some sectors as not being different from the MoA-AD and that the Bangsamoro homeland was similar to the Bangsamoro juridical entity which was declared as unconstitutional by the SC. The agreement also was very vague on specifics including the terms on power and wealth sharing and the decommissioning of firearms.

The MILF has said it will order its fighters to lay down their arms only after the Bangsamoro government is in place and operational in Mindanao, southern Philippines.  MILF chairman Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim said at this point the issue of decommisioning of firearms by the MILF fighters was still under discussion with the Philippine government. He disclosed this to Malaysian government-run news service Bernama when approached while attending the just-concluded 8th World Islamic Economic Forum.

Murad reminded that the relevant parties needed to create the proper situation on the ground first, before kick starting the process of decommissioning of firearms by his fighters. He said the issue of decommissioning of firearms should not concern the MILF fighters only, but also involved the government militias called the Civilian Volunteers.  “They should also be subjected to decommissioning (of firearms),” according to him.

The MILF and the Philippine government successfully inked a framework agreement, ending the long-running conflict between both parties which claimed thousands of lives and left the resource-rich Mindanao region impoverished. The framework agreement between MILF and Manila was brokered by Malaysia and signed at the Malacanang Palace Oct 15. The historic event was witnessed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and President Benigno Aquino III.  The rebel leader said that the people in Mindanao would not have any need to carry firearms if there was prevailing peace and security on the ground.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/9328-milf-bangsamoro-deal-needs-cha-cha