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PGMA’s legacy on reconciliation: Bringing back the rebels on the negotiating table
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Mar 8, 2010 - 6:08:34 PM

MANILA, March 9 (PNA) -- The reopening of peace talks between the government and two rebel groups that could end the 40-year insurgency warfare in the country was the longest running in the world.

It is good for the Filipino people, according to former Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino I. Razon Jr.

"There is a very good prospect we could give to our people because it reflects our dedication, perseverance and patience to achieve a lasting peace to our country,” Razon said in a recent interview.

He said the government was very pleased to know that two rebel groups -- the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/ND) -- have expressed their desire to resume the stalled peace negotiations.

Talks with the MILF collapsed a year ago following the aborted signing of the controversial Memorandum of Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), while negotiations with the CPP/NPA/NDF bogged down in 2005 after the United States tagged the NPA as a terrorist organization.

However, during those period, despite the intermittent fighting that erupted, particularly the non-signing of the MOA-AD which was declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the government has not stopped back- channeling talks with the two insurgent groups to revive the peace talks.

"Our efforts have paid-off. The government panels are ready to resume talks with them so we can have peace in our beloved Philippines," Razon said.

Ambassador Rafael E. Seguis, head of the government peace panel that will talk with the MILF, returned from Kuala Lumpur last week and announced that the MILF was ready to resume negotiations.

The MILF panel was headed by Mohaghe Iqbal. The MOA-AD will no longer be discussed as the two sides have agreed to focus the talks for a lasting solution to the long-drawn Mindanao conflict.

Razon lauded this new development that would move the peace process forward.

On the other hand, peace talks with the CPP/NPA/NDF will also start soon.

Razon said a government peace panel will go to Oslo, Norway this month in preparation for the forthcoming negotiation.

Government peace negotiators expect formal talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to resume “soon” after both parties exchanged drafts of each other’s proposed peace agreements last week.

Presidential adviser on the peace process Annabelle Abaya called the exchange of drafts, done during exploratory talks on January 27 to 28, “an important first step that will pave the way for the signing of a peace agreement.

Undersecretary Seguis said both sides have agreed to preserve earlier gains achieved in the course of negotiations, which however, stalled after the Supreme Court shot down the signing of a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain in August 2008.

This was followed by a flare-up of hostilities that displaced hundreds of thousands of people in central Mindanao. (PNA)
DCT/RBC