Government of the Philippines Panel Chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer takes helm at a briefing in Quezon City. She is flanked by Presidential Adviser on Muslim Concerns Yasmin Busran-Lao and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos head Mehol Sadain. (Robert JA Basilio Jr., InterAksyon.com)
A Philippine government panel engaged in peace talks with one of several Muslim separatist groups said it “wasn’t going to give them the pleasure of seeing the peace process collapse.”
The Government of the Philippines Panel Chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer made these remarks over a lunch briefing on Tuesday, citing negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), alleged members of whom have been arrested for organizing an ambush against a government soldier in July.
“We are negotiating for peace and we are also addressing security challenges on the ground,” Ferrer said, even as violent incidents involving the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF)—a splinter group of the MILF—continued to increase from July to September this year.
In July, a total of 10 violent incidents attributed to the BIFF took place in Maguindanao and North Cotabato, according to data from several sources including the government-led Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities and the Government of the Philippines Ad Hoc Joint Action Group.
The figure excludes an ambush of a Philippine Army sergeant in Sitio Tubak, Pagangan, Aleosan, North Cotabato that led to the arrest of three alleged members of the MILF--this was later protested by the MILF’s CCCH. The BIFF was also perceived to have a hand in the incident.
In August, violent incidents reportedly instigated by the BIFF rose to 17 and took place in Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and the boundaries of both areas.
By September, violent incidents supposedly perpetrated by the MILF-splinter group surged to 22 and covered not just the three previously-mentioned areas but Basilan as well. That same month also saw the bombing of Transmission Line #141, causing prolonged power shutdowns in parts of Central Mindanao.
“The best thing that they want to happen in the peace talks is for it to collapse, then they can harvest discontent that can arise from the expectations that were created by the process,” Ferrer said. “And the MILF knows that...we’re not going to give them the pleasure of seeing this process collapse.”
“These acts show that the BIFF and their cohorts are bent on disrupting the peaceful option and have no qualms to use violence against civilians in order to achieve their political objectives,” Ferrer said in a statement distributed during the briefing.
Need 'to reach convergence' among Bangsamoro groups
To further push the peace process forward, which would help create a Bangsamoro state in predominantly Muslim areas in Mindanao, government peace panel members expressed the need for the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to reach a “convergence.”
“Convergence should be reached by both sides,” government peace panel member Mehol Sadain said during the same briefing.
However, for convergence to take place, the MNLF—which entered into a peace agreement with the government in 1996 with Chairman Nur Misuari at its helm—and its several factions should come up with unities even before it starts talking with the MILF, said Sadain, who also heads the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos.
Young cadres and female members of the MNLF are engaged in peace talks with representatives of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp), Sadain said.
Meanwhile, not all MNLF commanders, let alone Muslims themselves, have expressed support for Misuari when the faction that he led mounted an attack that killed hundreds in Zamboanga City, Sadain said.
“The government will apply the full force of the law against those who cause violence and havoc on civilian communities, similar to what the MNLF-Misuari forces did in Zamboanga City,” former agriculture secretary and government negotiator Senen Bacani said.
For her part, peace panel member Yasmin Busran-Lao expressed optimism that the Bangsamoro will grab the opportunity for peace and “transcend personal, tribal, or organizational interests to bring about good governance for the people.”
“The peace agreement will allow for a fresh start of governance institutions in the Bangsamoro,” Lao said in a statement. “There will be space for all those who wish to partipate based on fair rules.”
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