By Jeoffrey Maitem
Inquirer Last updated 06:00pm (Mla time) 08/01/2006
COTABATO CITY – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) does not see a peace agreement with the government being signed within this year because the government has not responded to their counter-proposal on the proposed territory of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE).
The government had proposed an area for the BJE, which the MILF accepted. However, the MILF later asked the government to add more areas to respond to the actual needs of the BJE to survive and be self-reliant.
“What is important is that the ball is in the hands of the government. If we cannot move significantly in the coming months, it is the fault of the government for sitting on the issue,” Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF peace panel secretariat, said
Mantawil noted that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo never mentioned developments in the peace talks in her July 24 State of the Nation Address.
“This means she does not consider the peace process as an important policy of her administration,” Mantawil said.
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal also said either Arroyo was no longer interested in pursuing a conclusion to the peace talks or she does not consider the many successes of the talks as part of her administration’s achievements.
Iqbal said the President did not include even a sentence or two to address the recent fighting in Maguindanao between militias and MILF forces, which displaced over 5,000 families.
“The speech is mainly ego-boasting or busting,” he said, adding that the President overemphasized the positive side of her rule but deliberately failed to state the true state of the nation.
Inquirer Mindanao Bureau
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