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Philippines
Government scraps peace panel
Article published on the 2008-09-03 Latest update 2008-09-03 14:34 TU
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Manila Tuesday
(Photo: Reuters:Palace Handout)
The Philippine government has scrapped the peace panel set up to negotiate with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Following recent attacks by hardline factions of the Muslim separatist geurrillas, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's representative said that no more negotiations will take place until the rebels disarm and move out of their camps.
The move threatens a five-year ceasefire with the MILF, which has been fighting for an Islamic homeland for four decades.
Arroyo's chief aide, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, said that negotiations with rebel groups will only proceed if they disarm and move out of their camps.
"Consequently, the president has ordered that government peace panel for talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front be dissolved to align all the peace initiatives in accordance with this directive," he said.
In a separate statement, Arroyo said that, "in the light of the recent violent incidents committed by lawless violent groups", her government will no longer sign a controversial draft agreement that would have given the MILF autonomy over a Muslim homeland.
Hardline MILF factions launched military offensives, in which over 100 of their fighters have died along with 50 civilians and soldiers, after the Supreme Court issued an injunction against the draft.
Military chiefs say they are searching for the leaders of those factions but that a ceasefire with the main body of the MILF still holds. MILF leaders say that the latest move means that the government will intensify military operations.
Senator Edgardo Angara, an oppoinent of Arroyo, believes that the peace process will continue but that the rebels will insist on discussing their claim for "ancestral domain", which would decide the area that autonomous region would cover.
"There may be a change in approach and direction because the priority, it seems, is to discuss disarmament and then discuss the ancestral domain later on," he told RFI, adding that obtaining disarmament first "may be a tall order".
