MANILA — The Philippine government will resume formal peace negotiations with Muslim rebels on Monday (December 5) in Kuala Lumpur, the government announced.
This is also the first time the two sides will formally meet after the Oct 18 incident when 19 Special Forces were killed in an encounter in Basilan. While the two sides met informally in Kuala Lumpur last November 3, the two sides have not reached any substantive agreement.
The informal talks also failed to address the concerns regarding the declaration of President Benigno Aquino III for an “all-out justice” against “lawless elements” in the region.
The peace talks had already been stalled since August, when the MILF dismissed a government counter-proposal that did not address their initial demand for the creation of a “sub-state” for minority Muslims.
Meanwhile, the MILF said it is seriously considering sending one woman with its peace delegation to the forthcoming talks.
Jun Mantawil, head of MILF peace panel Secretariat, told www.luwaran.com that the decision was reached after the MILF central committee had given its peace panel the green light to go ahead with the plan, pending fulfillment of other necessary requirements for a woman to travel with men.
Mantawil said the woman, whom he did not identify, must have the closest of kin with her, in order to have clearance from the MILF to travel with the men. The report however quotes sources that say the woman was either Atty. Raissa Jajurie or Bai Cabaybay Abubakar, who are both members of the MILF peace panel board of consultants.
The report said Jajurie is a human rights lawyer who hails from Sulu, while Abubakar is the president of the Sharif Kabunsuan College, also in Cotabato City.
The report also quoted Mantawil as saying the forthcoming peace talks in Kuala Lumpur as very crucial in view of the growing concern of the public and the international community that the Aquino administration and the MILF will not able to sign an agreement before 2013 ends.
While the resumption of formal talks is positive news, there remain very serious challenges to the peace process. The two sides haven’t reached a decision on how to approach the issue of MILF rebel leader Dan Asnawi.
Asnawi was tagged as behind the beheading of ten Marines in 2007. The MILF is still in the opinion that Asnawi is not a criminal but a victim of what it calls an unjust justice system. Asnawi, whom the military labeled as a “lawless element,” is the second highest MILF commander in Basilan.
