The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) submitted last week a new document renewing its Bangsamoro claim but over a smaller territory envisioned to become a sub-state.

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) chief peace negotiator Marvic Leonen said the inch-thick document was given during the GRP and the MILF’s 20^th formal exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last February 9 to 10.

According to GMANews.tv, the group withdrew its calls for an independent state last year and replaced it with a proposed “sub-state” which will still recognize the Philippines as its country.

Leonen said the MILF reduced their claims to only seven to nine percent of their historical claims. This included ARMM provinces. He said they would still have to “look at the maps” but MILF’s decision not to pursue their “separatist claims” is welcomed by the government.

Leonen also said the document is an “expression of their position rather than a working draft for the rest of the negotiating meetings.”

Issue of land

According to Leonen, the MILF included some provisions contained in the controversial memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Oct. 14, 2008.

“That’s natural because they want that kind of a starting position," he said.

The MOA-AD was declared illegal because it seeks to establish a state within another sovereign state. Under the MOA-AD, an expanded Moro territory included the ARMM provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and even Marawi City, as well as other adjoining provinces like North Cotabato and the port city of Zamboanga.

Former chairman of the GRP peace panel retired Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said there were lapses and inadequacies on their part which led to the collapse of talks during the MOA-AD issue.

“A government that did not enjoy the people’s trust could never convince the people that the agreement would be for the interest of the people,” he said, citing the low trust rating for former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the time.

He also cited the peddling of lies that generated fear among the public such as confiscation of land, subjection to “harsh Sharia law” for those inside the Bangsamoro territories.

“All of these are not true. They are borne out of historical biases that persist to this day. There would always be detractors as there is a sore lack of knowledge of the historical roots of the problem that have led and sustained the Moro rebellion,” he said.

Professor Julkipli Wadi, Dean of the University of the Philippines Institute of Islamic Studies said in a forum organized by the Center for People Empowerment and Governance (Cenpeg), “The issue of land and territorial domain is at the heart of the Moro conflict. The Moro home is encroached upon, divided for more than a century. To recover, secure and protect their remaining space is justified. The Moro could not accept to be squatters in their own land.”

He emphasized that the GRP is not able to address the basic problems of self-determination and economic development in the region.

Splinter group

Wadi also said that the break away for MILF military commander Ameril Umbra Kato was not new in the history of the Moro struggle. He said the government should not look at it as a weakness. “Even if Kato is already old, he is still capable of getting a substantial number of followers. He could lead a bloody struggle,” he said.

Leonen said they considered the splinter group as part of the problem.

At the same time, reports say Kato had vowed to respect the ceasefire and the peace talks. Kato apparently resigned from his MILF post in the middle of 2010 and set up the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Kato’s group is facing charges for acts committed in 2008.

Meanwhile, Cenpeg fellow and UP professor Roland Simbulan said the presence of US troops in Mindanao could heighten the conflict in the area.

Wadi agreed citing the economic interests of US in the region, as shown in the presence of oil companies in the Sulu sea, prompting them to use the “rhetoric of war on terror.”

Resumption of the peace talks is temporarily set on March 20 and 30.