Unless the Mindanao roadmap for peace is revised, the Muslim rebels are holding back to pursue the serious talks with the government in resolving the long enduring insurgency in Southern Philippines.

Murad Ebrahim, head of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, confirmed that his negotiators would not appear for the set meeting of the government because of several conflicting issues left unanswered between the two parties.

Murad said this situation brings no point of commonality to discuss possible resolutions on the pending issues. As a way of reaching out, he added, the MILF would seek the assistance of a Malaysian facilitator to separately approach both sides and let the Philippine government review its peace plan. He described this initiative as an “exercise in futility.”

He noted facilitation is necessary to arrive at a better perspective to let the two positions of the panels gain a concerted agenda in creating conducive atmosphere for possible discussions.

Both sides made diplomatic initiatives this year to put an end to the long insurgency since the 1970s victimizing over 150,000 lives. But apparently Murad’s claims are making the peace accord efforts blurring.

Murad said the previous talks in Kuala Lumpur put emphasis on socio-economic reforms and tend to ignore MILF’s goal of achieving autonomous Muslim governance in Mindanao. He stressed the on-going conflicts are brought by a political problem so it is high time to suggest a political solution.

He claimed the eagerness of the country’s Muslim minority group to have an autonomous ground in Mindanao was the “root cause” of all the conflicting issues haunting the region. The Aquino government should consider this as a major point of discussion for the peace process to continue.

As of press time, the Philippine government has no full platform for peace roadmap in Mindanao. But it has been very vocal of instilling principles geared towards socio-economic reforms in the battled south of the country and to start “doables” immediately.

Although the government has prepared a game plan to provide autonomy for Muslims in Mindanao, Murad said the plan gives no real autonomy. What is required is having a substate providing much more freedom from the central powers in Manila.

Marvic Leonen, primary representative of the negotiating panel of the government, claimed his team would not give in to the MILF’s plea to revise the stalemate. He said the government stands on its solid proposal.

Leonen added Murad’s plan for using Malaysian facilitation is agreeable to the government, but he noted employing this as a strategy on a long-term purpose will not be as effective compared to both parties conducting direct talks.

Murad said although the current stalemate is in place, the MILF group is committed to do a final settlement in peaceful manner and will respect a ceasefire that has been agreed upon since 2003. But the younger generation of Muslim rebels is not in favor of delaying the peace process indefinitely, he warned.

Source: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/muslim-rebels-philippines-reject-peace-plan-205945230.html