RP group endorses More peace plan

RP group endorses More peace plan

MANILA (AFP): A group of Roman Catholic, Protestant and Islamic religious leaders yesterday endorsed an interim peace deal with Moro guerrillas, as gunmen wiped out a militia post in the south of the country.

The endorsement also came as residents of a southern city planned a general strike against the peace agreement.

The National Ecumenical Consultative Committee (NECCOM), after a meeting with President Fidel Ramos, said they supported the creation of a regional council that will supervise development projects in 14 mainly Christian provinces in the south.

Under the peace agreement, the Moslem insurgent Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) would lead the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD) for three years, paving the way for the creation of a wider Moslem autonomous region.

The Christians have protested against the agreement, saying it will lead to Moslem rule.

But the Christian leaders said they decided to support the SPCPD "in order to give peace a chance to work."

However, in a position paper, the NECCOM urged Manila to ensure that members of an 81-strong Consultative Assembly, which will help the SPCPD are appointed "on the basis of proportional representation in accordance with population."

This would conflict with the proposed agreement which gives 54 seats in the assembly to the MNLF and their allies with the rest coming from local officials.

The religious leaders also called on Manila to decide on what to do with the firearms of an estimated 15,000 MNLF guerrillas and to make sure that the SPCPD will "respect the separation of Church and State."

A proposed Islamic body to advise the council "should be outside the formal government structure," they added.

Religious biases are strong in the main southern island of Mindanao, which this largely Roman Catholic country's Moslem minority considers their ancestral homeland. Waves of Christian migrants have relegated the Moslems to a minority.

Ramos's chief aide said yesterday that Manila has made headway in its efforts to gain popular support for the council.

Executive Secretary Ruben Torres said opponents of the SPCPD were only "misinformed," after Christians had told him they would be barred from eating pork or that their lands would be taken away from them and given to Moslems once the SPCPD is established.

Torres added that Ramos's ruling party was reworking the image of MNLF chief Nur Misuari in preparation for his running in September elections for governor of a smaller existing Moslem autonomous area as part of the peace initiative.

This included even working on Misuari's "leaflets, posters and campaign materials," Torres said.

Torres's statements came as residents of the mainly-Christian city of Dipolog prepared for a general strike today to protest the inclusion of their province of Zamboanga del Norte in the SPCPD.

Leaders of the strike vowed to paralyze transportation, government offices and schools.

Police in Mindanao reported that suspected MNLF guerrillas turned bandit, raided a militia outpost in Siocon town, hacking the army soldier in charge to death.

Four militiamen at the outpost, along with 14 weapons, were missing and believed taken by the raiders.

It could not be determined if this incident was related to the interim peace agreement. Although the MNLF has signed a cease- fire with the government, other armed Moslem factions are not covered by the agreement.