By EDD K. USMAN
November 30, 2009, 7:05pm
Amidst the continuing local and international condemnation of the so-called “Maguindanao Massacre” where more than 57 journalists, motorists, and members of a Moro traditional and political clan were murdered, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is quietly moving forward to sustain the Mindanao peace process.
Peace panels of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF chaired, respectively, by Ambassador Rafael Seguis and Mohagher Iqbal, have already achieved some breakthroughs in July and September but formal talks have yet to resume.
With the hosting and facilitation of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, the Muslim country’s capital, Seguis and Iqbal signed framework agreements on the creation of the International Contact Group (ICG) and Agreement on the Protection of Civilian Component (APCC) of the International Monitoring Team (IMT).
The grisly massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, being blamed on the Ampatuan clan on November 23 that killed the wife, sisters and aunt and supporters of Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu, about 30 journalists and motorists caught in the politically motivated mass killings has relegated the Mindanao peace process to the background in news reportage.
Meanwhile, the MILF hierarchy is plodding along to promote and move the peace negotiations forward. The GRP-MILF peace process is now about 13-years-old.
Iqbal lead consultations at Camp Rajamuda in Pagalungan, Maguindanao, with top political and military leaders of the Moro rebel group, now the country’s biggest Moro armed organization with estimated 12,000 members.
On the Web site luwaran.net, it said the MILF leaders coming from “Pagalungan, Datu Montawal, Salipada K. Pendatun, and Paglas in the province of Maguindanao; Matalam, Kabacan, Carmen, Pikit, and Aleosan in the province of Cotabato; and top commanders of the 108th, 109th, 110th, 111th and 112th Base Commands of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) attended the occasion with the theme “One people, One Bangsamoro, One Struggle, One Aspiration for Freedom and Self-Determination.”
They expressed support to the peace process, appealed to the MILF peace panel to be firm in the negotiations, asked that MILF leaders should not be arrested during the peace process, and hailed the strong support to the search for peace from the international community.
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