Moro autonomy still contentious issue
Moro autonomy still contentious issue
JAKARTA (JP): Delegates from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Philippine government met here yesterday to begin talks on the crucial issue of the mechanisms for yielding autonomy to the predominantly Moslem part of southern Philippines.
Despite already resolving what delegates estimate as 80 to 90 percent of the issues, MNLF chairman Nur Misuari and Manila's chief negotiator Manuel T. Yan, still seem at odds on the question of a possible referendum to implement the accords achieved up to the present.
Manila argues that, based on its Constitution, a referendum must be held in the southern Philippines before the agreements yielding autonomy to the MNLF can be applied.
Misuari yesterday dismissed the proposal as an irrelevant issue which might derail the overall peace process.
"You cannot apply your laws and constitution because it has no power or authority to govern the fate of the Tripoli agreement," he told The Jakarta Post in reference to the 1976 accord reached in Libya, which is the foundation of the talks.
"But they are insisting and I don't know how we can go about this, but of course we stand ready to talk to them," he added.
Misuari and Yan are here for the Third Round of Formal Peace Talks which are being held at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel until Friday.
Indonesia has been facilitating the talks for the past two years. During the Second Round of Talks here last year, the two sides agreed on issues concerning educational and judicial autonomy.
Some five-million Filipino Moslems, mostly on the island of Mindanao, have been fighting for self-rule for several centuries in a predominantly Roman Catholic nation.
Misuari warned that failure of the talks could have dire consequences.
"They have waited too long and compromised too much to be able to wait any longer," he said of the Moro people's desire for autonomy.
Deadlock in the peace process could result in a loss of confidence among the Moro people in the peaceful methods adopted by the MNLF and sway them towards more radical groups such as the breakaway Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
"If we fail, we will be sowing the seeds of a larger and more vicious war," Misuari said on the consequences of failure.
Nevertheless when asked whether the MNLF would again resort to armed resistance, Misuari seemed to indicate some restraint.
"We will remain in a position of what we call a defense position...only if they intrude into our camps will we exercise our right to defend ourselves," he remarked.
Yan nevertheless still expressed confidence and hope at the new talks.
Pointing to the recent peace breakthroughs in Bosnia- Herzegovina and the Middle East, Yan noted that the momentum of peace can no longer be resisted.
"Now perhaps it is the turn of Southeast Asia to shine in this quest. Mindanao is not only the front door to Philippine progress, it is the front door to regional peace and stability," he said.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas during yesterday's opening session also noted that despite the many accomplishments so far, the issues that remain unresolved "are the most contentious and the ones that bear the greatest weight."
He explained that these include the question of the establishment of the provisional autonomous government and the Special Regional Security Force which would incorporate MNLF forces into the Philippine army.
"The question is whether both sides are willing to give more of what they have already so wisely given to secure the peace that they have been pursuing for so long," Alatas said.(mds)
Editorial -- Page 4