BY VICTOR REYES

TWELVE years after the signing of the 1996 peace pact with the Moro National Liberation Front, top security officials yesterday met with MNLF leaders to discuss the full implementation of the agreement as a way to attaining genuine peace in Mindanao.

Secretaries Ronaldo Puno of the interior and Gilberto Teodoro of defense represented the government in the meeting with MNLF chairman Muslimin Sema, who is also the mayor of Cotabato City.

Officials said the talks focused on the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of the members of the MNLF.

It was not clear if MNLF’s long-standing demand for an expansion of the coverage of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao and greater powers for the ARMM government was taken up during the meeting held at the Camp Aguinaldo office of Teodoro.

Members of the MNLF loyal to its former chairman Nur Misuari staged a short-lived uprising in Sulu and Zamboanga in 2001 to protest the alleged failure to fully implement the 1996 agreement.

Misuari was the first governor of ARMM.

The signing of the peace agreement was opposed by an MNLF faction which eventually repudiated the leadership of Misuari and formed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The MILF has since proved ascendant and the Arroyo administration opened peace negotiations with it in 2001.

Teodoro, asked why the 1996 agreement was again being taken up, said the talks were prompted by reports that the MNLF and the MILF have forged an alliance against the government.

"We had an opportunity now for them to state their (MNLF) position... No. 1, that the (MNLF) is not in alliance (with the MILF) and No. 2, this (1996 peace) agreement is existing and we should work on it," he said.

Misuari, currently MILF chairman emeritus who is out on bail on the rebellion charge arising from the 2001 uprising, said there is no such alliance.

Puno also said the intelligence community has found no alliance.

The disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) aspects of the 1996 peace accord pertain to the laying down of arms of members of the MNLF, the breaking up of its armed groups, and the inclusion of its members as "integrees" of the PNP and the AFP.

The government, so far, has 1,500 MNLF integrees in the PNP and 5,000 others in the AFP.

Puno said completing the DDR component of the accord would tap idle MNLF forces as partners of the PNP and AFP in maintaining peace and order in Mindanao.

"The MNLF forces are just on standby. If we could turn them around, they could help in maintaining peace and order instead of them just watching in the sidelines. I think that this will result in a greater climate of peace in Mindanao," Puno said.

"We are hoping that if we can bring the 1996 final peace agreement with MNLF to conclusion, it will expedite the process of peace in the entire of Mindanao," he said.

Sema said the MNLF is not supporting the MILF rebels who are being pursued by authorities for the atrocities they committed recently in Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Sarangani.

"The MNLF remains to be a partner of the national government in the implementation of peace and development for many, many years until today and in particular," Sema said.

"In North Cotabato, it is the MNLF forces there that are balancing the situation in favor of the national government. We are undertaking peace and development programs in North Cotabato in cooperation with the local governments there," said Sema.