`Peace pact with MILF possible before 2010`

Manila - Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Philippine government could approve a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front before August, which would pave the way for a final peace agreement with the rebel group before President Arroyo`s term expires in 2010.

Undersecretary Rodolfo Garcia of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said the government negotiating panel remains optimistic that an impasse in the peace negotiations will be resolved soon.

Garcia, who heads the government peace panel negotiating with the MILF, said a legal team is already winding down a review of 49 consensus points reached by both sides in December. He said the review includes the proposal to expand the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to include an additional 800 villages.

"My gut feel is if all events conspire to move this forward without much problems, I think we can manage in signing an agreement on ancestral domain on or before August, before the ARMM elections," he told foreign correspondents in Makati City.

Garcia admitted that the review has delayed the resumption of the peace talks after government officials insisted that provisions of the peace agreement should be within the framework of the Constitution. He added that the government peace panel is recommending several constitutional amendments to cover the consensus points reached by rebel and government negotiators.

Government peace talks with the 12,000-strong MILF, which has waged a bloody campaign for a separate Muslim homeland since 1978, have stalled after the rebels accused Manila of dragging its feet.

Malaysia, which has been hosting the talks, has said it will pull out its ceasefire monitors from Mindanao citing a lack of progress in the talks.

ARMM expansion potentially explosive

Garcia said the issue of ancestral domain is potentially explosive since it would mean reducing territories previously under the provincial governments of Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

He said the 800 villages included in the proposed ARMM expansion have a mix of Muslim, Christian and lumad constituents.

Garcia said one aspect of the ARMM expansion is the inclusion of maritime areas previously under the domain of the national government. "If you give a maritime area to the Bangsamoro people they will have authority and control over the area, which will include a lot of seas between Zamboanga to Cotabato and Zamboanga to Palawan. These are domains under national government," he said.

He said government peace negotiators also agreed in principle to give a bigger share of revenues to the MILF from the extraction of natural resources in the area. He added, however, that voters could reject the proposal in a plebiscite.

Federalism proposal

One proposal that has the backing of government peace negotiators is a shift to a federal system of government as proposed by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

Senate Resolution No. 10 called for amendments to the 1987 Constitution and the eventual adoption of a federal system of government through a constituent assembly. It also called for the creation of eleven states out of the Republic, which "would establish centers of finance and development in the archipelago."

Pimentel said the shift to a federal system of government aims to accomplish two main goals: the swift development of the entire country, and the elimination of the root causes of rebellion, particularly in Mindanao.

Garcia said that while the Pimentel`s proposal is sound, government negotiators cannot offer federalism as an option to the MILF during the peace talks.

"We cannot offer federalism to the MILF. It has to be reached in negotiation. We cannot short circuit the process and offer federalism. But we feel it is the only way that we could achieve a greater amount of powers for the Bangsamoro people," he said.

Source: www.abs-cbnnews.com - David Dizon

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