Puno said if MILF continues to reject Constitutional process, then let the war proceed

By Ronron
January 7, 2008

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno said on Monday that if the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) continues to defy the Constitutional means of the government in forging a peace pact with them, then the negotiation should just be stopped.

Puno issued the statement as the MILF, in its official website www.luwaran.com, stressed on the same day that it should not be made party by the government in the Constitutional processes the latter is taking in coming up with an agreement.

“If the MILF doesn’t want our agreement, if they do not want to respect our Constitution, then let us stop negotiating and just continue with the war,” Puno told reporters in Malacanang.

“The technical group (of the government) might have made a mistake in agreeing to (the MILF’s) previous demands,” he added.

The last exploratory talks between the government and MILF did not push through in mid-December last year after the latter found out that the former introduced new points in the draft Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, different from the consensus points since April 2005.

MILF Central Committee Secretariat Chairman Muhammad Ameen said yesterday that the MILF cannot take part in the Constitutional processes that the government is taking because it is a revolutionary organization that does not recognize the Philippine government.

Besides, he said, all negotiations to resolve sovereignty-based conflicts all over the world such as those in Kosovo, Ireland, Bougainville, Aceh, Sudan, Western Sahara and many others are extra-Constitutional in character.

So, the MILF should not be an exception, he added.

But Puno said the government has always been “upfront with the MILF” as far as the Constitutional process is concerned.

“We are telling them that if they want this, it might require amending the Constitution, which we may not achieve after signing the Agreement. Where will that lead us? We will be back to square one,” he said.

But Ameen cited what happened to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which, he said, became a failure because the group succumbed to the Philippine Constitution when it signed a peace pact in 1996.

“After more than 10 years since the signing of the GRP-MNLF Final Agreement in 1996, the MNLF and Nur Misuari are back to square one as far as the genuine resolution of the Moro problem is concerned. Instead of giving genuine self-governance to the Bangsamoro people, they are being integrated into the national body politic, reminiscent of the government approach in the 50’s and 60’s,” Ameen said.

Government chief negotiator Rodolfo Garcia said in a phone interview yesterday they understand the position of the MILF about the Constitutional process issue that is why “we are working on it.”

“The negotiation is not in the stage of hopelessness. I don’t think so. It is very far from it. The situation is very much workable and that is what the panel is doing right now,” Garcia said.

He said they are consulting with their legal team to address the Constitutional issue in addressing the demands of the MILF.

Among the possible action to take is amending the Constitution to allow the creation of a Federal State for the Bangsamoro people.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, in a separate phone interview, said the only saving grace for the stalled talks is for the “government to reconsider their position on the consensus points, which they reneged last December.”

“We can salvage the peace talks if they (government) abide by the consensus points on ancestral domains that was signed since April 2005, with a third party facilitator,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal criticized Puno for being a war freak, instead of helping achieve a peace agreement.

“From the time of Marcos, to Estrada’s, and now, Arroyo’s, Puno has always been for an all-out war with us… All along, he has been the hardliner in the Arroyo cabinet,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal challenged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to call the shots instead if she really wants a resolution of the problem in Mindanao.

“If there is going to be war here in Mindanao, I am sure the international community and the public opinion will go for us who upheld the consensus points. We are definitely on a higher moral ground, higher moral authority to defend ourselves,” Iqbal said./DMS