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| Photo by Jay Morales, Malacañang |
by Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News - History will always remember August 4, 2008, when a homeland deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was issued a temporary restraining order by the Supreme Court.
Thus, the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) did not push through the following day, leading to a series of attacks by rogue MILF units in some parts of Central Mindanao and Sarangani province where hundreds of thousands had been displaced.
The MOA-AD was later ruled unconstitutional by the high court.
Exactly 3 years later, President Benigno Aquino III marked the historical date with much hope and positivity as he met with MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ibrahim and discussed possible approaches in moving the peace process forward.
Accompanying the President Thursday in the informal meeting held in the suburbs of Tokyo were Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia, Budget and Management Sec. Florencio Abad, Finance Sec. Cesar Purisima, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and Government of the Philippines (GPH) Peace Panel Chair Marvic Leonen.
Murad, on the other hand, was joined by some members of the Central Committee, the MILF's negotiating panel and some base commanders.
Only the President, Murad and their note-takers were inside the meeting room.
Fast track the negotiations
In a press statement, Leonen said that the informal meeting, which lasted for 2 hours, was "cordial but consisted of a frank and candid exchange of their views about the frames of the continuing peace talks and some possible approaches that the parties can take to bring about a peaceful settlement."
"Both agreed that the implementation of any agreement should happen within the current administration. Both agreed to fast track the negotiations," he added.
The chief negotiator said that "it was the President himself who sought the meeting prior to the government's submission of its own agenda for the talks."
According to Leonen, the meeting facilitates progress of the formal negotiations between the Philippine government and MILF panels.
Both parties met last June 27 in Kuala Lumpur where they discussed the possibility for the meeting between President Aquino and Murad.
On this, Leonen said that the MILF viewed the government's offer for a meeting as a "grand gesture," adding that the Moro group was honored that this historical meeting was going to take place.
He noted that this is the first time that a Philippine president agreed to meet with the MILF chair since the negotiations commenced 14 years ago.
Leonen likewise thanked the Government of Japan "for providing the facilities consistent with their longstanding commitment to peace."
The next formal exploratory talks between the two panels is scheduled within the month of August.
MILF upbeat
The MILF was also upbeat about the meeting, the first between their leader and any Philippine president after 14 years of on-again-off-again negotiations.
"The meeting between the two leaders gives a tremendous boost to the peace negotiations and in rekindling public expectation to fast-track the peace settlement," it said.
The 12,000-strong MILF has been waging an insurgency for more than three decades that initially aimed for an independent Muslim state in the mostly Catholic country's southern island of Mindanao, but is now focused on autonomy.
The rebellion has killed over 150,000 people and stunted economic growth in the mineral rich but impoverished southern region.
Aquino's predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, failed to sign a peace deal with the MILF during the nearly 10 years she was in power.
Arroyo did get close in 2008 with a proposed peace deal--the MOA-AD--that would have given the MILF control over vast tracts of land, but the Supreme Court rejected the plan.
In response to the failure, rogue MILF commanders launched attacks on communities in the south that displaced more than 750,000 people during the worst of the unrest.
About 400 civilians and fighters from both sides were also killed.
The MILF agreed to return to the negotiating table after Aquino came to power last year, and talks have since been held in Malaysia, most recently in June.
'A major step forward'
Thursday's meeting came about after Aquino offered to sit down with the MILF chief anywhere so he could present his proposals on how best to reach a political settlement, Leonen said.
Sidney Jones, regional analyst for the security think-tank International Crisis Group, said the meeting was an important step in the right direction, though she warned the path to peace was fraught with risks.
"I think it's a major step forward simply because it establishes a personal relationship between the two principals," Jones told AFP in a telephone interview from her Indonesia office.
"(But) what it will lead to in the future is not yet clear."
The official negotiating panels of the two sides are now set to return to talks in Malaysia from August 22, both parties said.
The MILF is the largest rebel group in Mindanao, but the area is also home to a small band of Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militants, as well as other armed groups who conduct kidnappings and extortions to raise money. -- with a report from Cecil Morella, Agence France-Presse
