MILF
must cast aside the doubt
THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front is
not doing the peace initiatives any good by throwing the
blame on the government for the delay of peace
settlement in Mindanao. In its recent statement the
secessionist front is doubting still the sincerity of
the government to conclude a peace pact with them. In
fact it has not hidden its frustration over the efforts
of past administration to conclude a peace pact and
condemned the regime of Joseph Estrada for waging an
all-out-war.
For all its faults and unpopularity
it is the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that
puts a lot of efforts and patience to establish
ceasefire mechanisms to fast tract peace negotiation
with the MILF. It is the perception of not a few that
the government has in fact leaned too far back just in
order the reach an agreement that would establish a
stable peace in Mindanao. Corollary to these
initiatives, the Arroyo government has assembled a
plethora of aid and rehabilitation programs for those
who were displaced by the conflicts in the past.
Unfortunately, even with these
gestures none seemed to be enough to satisfy and to
assure the MILF leadership of the sincerity and the best
of intentions of the government to sign that elusive
peace pact once and for all.
And now the MILF is saying that the
Arroyo government is running out of material time to
conclude a peace settlement. It cited the political
noise in Manila which they said will debilitate all
governments drive to achieve peace settlement in
Mindanao within the term of President Arroyo.
If such is the frame of mind of the MILF hierarchy,
then one can say that all the hard work and investments
for peace are wasted. We think that the MILF is losing
the opportunity to craft an agreement within the aegis
of the Arroyo administration that is indubitably
dedicated and focused on its target to bring peace to
Mindanao. We do not think that the concessions that the
Arroyo government is offering to the MILF can be equaled
or surpassed by the new national leadership after 2010.
The best time is now unless the Front wants to gamble on
the unpredictability of a new president who might be, if
not a clone of Estrada, might have his temper and
dimwittedness over what brought about the conflicts in
Mindanao. We hope that the MILF will take some time to
mull quickly over t his for they have a sympathetic ear
of GMA who listens to their plea. – MIRIAM DAHUNOG,
miriamdahunog70@yahoo.com,
