Peace at hand in the Philippines<\/p>\n
Twenty years after Imelda Marcos and Libyan leader Muammar
\nGaddafi brokered an agreement in Tripoli to end a Moslem
\nseparatist rebellion in the southern Philippines, peace appears
\nto be at hand in the long-troubled region.<\/p>\n
Last week, a government panel and leaders of the mainstream
\nMoro National Liberation Front (MNLF) signed an agreement for the
\ncreation of a guerrilla-led council which will implement the
\nprovisions of the peace pact signed in the Libyan capital in
\n1976.<\/p>\n
The establishment of the Southern Philippines Council for
\nPeace and Development (SPCPD) broke the stalemate in the peace
\nprocess springing from a fundamental disagreement on how to
\nimplement the Tripoli agreement.<\/p>\n
It would give the MNLF, led by former state university
\nprofessor Nur Misuari, a major role in developing the 14
\nprovinces and nine cities in southern Mindanao island without the
\nneed for a constitutionally-mandated plebiscite.<\/p>\n
The agreement is expected to be a significant part of a peace
\npact that is to be finalized in Jakarta by next month that will
\nend a rebellion that has cost more than 50,000 lives since it
\nbroke out in 1972.<\/p>\n
Past unilateral attempts by Manila to enforce the Tripoli
\nagreement by holding plebiscites on the establishment of an
\nautonomous government has been denounced by the MNLF as a
\nviolation of the pact.<\/p>\n
After winning over the military rebels responsible for a
\nseries of coup attempts which almost toppled his predecessor, a
\npact with Moslem rebels will greatly boost (President Fidel
\nRamos') political stock and jump start development in the
\nsouthern Mindanao which is part of a budding ASEAN economic
\ngrowth area along the Philippines' common borders with Brunei,
\nIndonesia and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
His efforts at making peace with the communist forces have
\ngained headway with the resumption of formal talks last month in
\nthe Netherlands. Four years after he become president, Ramos'
\npeace efforts appear well on their way to a successful conclusion
\nwhen he ends his term in 1998.<\/p>\n
If he does succeed, he could very well be remembered as the
\nsoldier turned politician who was able to transform guns into
\nplowshares in his time.<\/p>\n
-- The Nation, Bangkok<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/peace-at-hand-in-the-philippines-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }