Moro rebels 'frustrated' by delays in peace talks

From InterAksyon (Jun 14): Moro rebels 'frustrated' by delays in peace talks

While majority of their members believe in he sincerity of President Benigno Aquino III, “many ground commanders” of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are getting restless over the government’s failure to re-start peace talks after the May 13 elections, as expected. This is from Jaafar Ghadzali, MILF vice chairman, who admitted Friday to a sense of frustration among rebels over alleged tactics to delay the signing of the Comprehensive Compact Agreement.

Ghadzali pointed to the latest statement of Teresita Quintos-Deles, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, asking Moro rebels to be “patient” as the government peace panel was trying to thresh out key issues on he peace agreement.

Aquino and MILF chairman Al Haj Murad signed a historic Framework Agreement (FRAG) in October last year at Malacanang, signaling the start of formal talks that both sides hoped would eventually lead to a comprehensive, final accord.

Ghadzali said, “The MILF is . . . very much concerned about what is going on; in other words, we are not happy, especially our leaders and commanders on the ground…Until now, the signing of the Comprehensive Compact Agreement has been continuously delayed and the feeling of some of us is that the government is deliberately delaying the signing of the peace talks.”

He said they relayed their concerns to the Philippine government through the Malaysian facilitator.

According to him, “the confidence and trust of many of the MILF leaders in the worthiness of the GPH peace panel is gradually eroding. . . .  [Why do they keep counseling us to have patience, patience, patience]?”

He said, “most of our commanders on the ground are becoming angry, they’ve been waiting for a long time . . . But I want to say this, we still believe that the most peaceful and civilized way of resolving the Bangsamoro issue is through negotiations. But the question is how long our people can wait, how long our leaders can wait for that settlement, for the signing of that Comprehensive Compact Agreement?”

The government, he noted, did not follow the timetable agreed upon by both sides, when it unilaterally postponed the resumption of peace talks. “During the last meeting between the two panels in Kuala Lumpur before the election, the arrangement was that immediately after the election the talks will be resumed. We expected that the next meeting would be a venue to exchange thoughts and proposals but this did not push through because of the unavailability of the GPH panel.”

Ghadzali wondered aloud if the Moro rebels would have to wait “another 10 years, 20 years to address the Bangsamoro issue? So I don’t think the current situation is very good.”  Nonetheless, Ghadzali said the MILF leadership still expects political will from the President in ending the armed conflict in Mindanao.  “We still believe in the seriousness of President Aquino in resolving the issue, but he should check what’s really going on.”

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/64099/moro-rebels-frustrated-by-delays-in-peace-talks