The Sowing the Seeds of Peace calls on the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to persevere in overcoming current issues that can possibly stall the scheduled continuation of the peace negotiations in June this year.
We call on both parties to comply with the “GPH and NDF Oslo Joint Statement of 21 February 2011” signed in Oslo, Norway in the presence of the representatives of the Royal Norwegian Government.
The pertinent sections of that statement read:
“… Based on the Joint Notes dated January 18, 2011, the GPH shall continue to work on appropriate measures to effect the expeditious release of all or most of the fourteen (14) NDFP listed JASIG consultants and personalities before the second round of formal talks, subject to verification as provided in the JASIG Supplemental Agreement dated June 26, 1996, or on the basis of humanitarian and other practical reasons. The NDFP added four (4) names (Danilo Badayos, Leopoldo Caloza, Alan Jazmines and Ramon Patriarca), whose release shall be subjected to the same process.
The GPH as confidence-building measure reiterated its commitment to undertake steps for the release of prisoners and detainees, including those committed to be released as found in the Second Oslo Joint Statement of 2004…”
We believe that the spirit and intent of that joint statement calls for continued confidence building measures to sustain the peace talks. With this in mind, we were thus pleased when peasant rights advocate Angelina Bisuna Ipong, the country’s oldest woman political prisoner, was released on 17 February 2011 as the GPH-NDPF peace talks were being held in Oslo.
The NDFP has announced a possible postponement of the talks pending release of political prisoners which, they say, has not been complied with by the GPH. We see this as an unfortunate development worthy of serious consideration by both sides and of advocates like us who are supporting the peace process.
We call on President Benigno Aquino III to ensure that the talks are not stalled anew on this account. We hope that the GPH will eventually uphold its civilian authority over voices within the AFP which, at the moment, are opposed to such release. Political authority should be of primordial consideration over tactical concerns of the military establishment. After all, it is incumbent upon any state to release “prisoners of conscience” in adherence to international human rights and humanitarian law.
The same principle applies when NPA prisoners of war are released on humanitarian grounds and as an exercise of the political authority of the NDFP over its armed revolutionary army. On an equal vein, we call on the NDFP as well to release prisoners of war as a way to reciprocate confidence measures which we expect the GPH to adopt in the days ahead.
We call on both sides to agree to a definite timeline that will allow GPH compliance with release of political prisoners. We believe that whenever there is political will from both protagonists in the armed conflict, there is time.
Our hope lies in the following paragraph which the Oslo Joint Statement of 21 February 2011 contained:
“The two Panels expressed satisfaction over the achievements of the first round of formal talks. They also expressed their determination to make progress in forging agreements on the remaining items of the substantive agenda on social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and end of hostilities and disposition of forces. (emphasis ours)”
As Mindanawons and as Filipinos who have a stake in the resolution of the roots of the armed conflict, for immediate benefits through concrete reforms, and for the eventual attainment of a just and lasting peace, we express to both the GPH and NDFP the people’s desire for sustained peace negotiations.
Convenors
ARCHBISHOP ANTONIO LEDESMA
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Bp MelzarCo-Chair, Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform
HON. VICENTE Y. EMANO
Mayor
Cagayan de Oro City
BISHOP FELIXBERTO CALANG
Iglesia Filipina Independiente
Chair, Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao
BISHOP MELZAR LABUNTOG
United Church of Christ of the Philippines
Ecumenical Bishops Forum
SR. FRANZ BLANDO, RGS
Sisters’ Association in Mindanao
Showing posts with label peace process in mindanao. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peace process in mindanao. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Charter change answer to Bangsamoro problem
Charter change, answer to Bangsamoro problem—MILF
QUEZON City, May 8, 2011—A constitutionalist who is now a senior member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has claimed Charter change is the only way to end the Bangsamoro problem.
Atty. Michael Mastura, elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1971, said “there is no other way” to resolve the Bangsamoro problem but a Charter change “because our issue is a constitutional issue.”
He gave the statement in answer to a question raised by a nun during a series of consultation meetings with the MILF peace negotiators at TECHNOHUB along Commonwealth Ave.
One of the nuns who attended the consultation meeting had asked Mastura if the MILF proposal would require constitutional change.
“The answer to this question is the very solution to the issue of independenc,” the lawyer said.
Mastura and four other panel members took turns in answering the question raised by a representative of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines from different perspectives.
Passionate as he has ever been, Mastura emphasized that the MILF has already abandoned its bid for independence even if they could “not accept a unitary state,” a reason he cited in appealing for Filipinos to open their minds and closely examine their proposed draft comprehensive agreement that they handed to the government peace panel during the April 27-28 negotiation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Included in the MILF’s draft proposal is an annex that would detail two schemes in changing the constitution, one would be through referendum and the other is amendment by appendage, the latter, Mastura believes may not be readily acceptable for the government.
In expanding the claim that the Moro problem is a constitutional issue, Mastura cited Article 10 of the Constitution which he said has 14 sections about autonomy.
“What is being contested here is Article 10—about the autonomous region, which has 14 sections.”
He implied that what they were asking from government was too much of a compromise from their original demand for independence.
“We are no longer asking for a parity rights. We are only asking for parity esteem,” Mastura told a crowd of over a hundred representatives of church, and civil society organizations.
He added that when the MILF abandoned its demand for cessation, they were “open to unity. We want unity with you,” referring to the non-Muslims.
Since they were “open to unity,” Mastura relayed that they exerted efforts to ensure not to offend the non-Muslims by carefully choosing the language and words they used in their proposals, citing the “Bangsamoro Juridical Entity” in reference to the territory proposed to be government by the Bangsamoro people.
The BJE, classified in three categories, is composed of 785 barangays in Muslim dominated areas of Mindanao.
“But even the Supreme Court,” which botched the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in 2008, “did not even know what it was.”
In the MILF’s draft, it proposed a State-Sub-state relationship between the national government and the Moro-governed region in Mindanao and since the country’s Constitution does not speak of it (State-Sub-state) the more there is a need to change the Charter, Mastura told the crowd which majority expressed support to the GPH-MILF peace process at the end of the consultation.
Many of the participants to the consultation admitted they campaigned against the MOA-AD in 2008 because they believed that changing the Constitution would open a floodgate of proposed changes to the Charter that would ensure then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could hold on to power.
The MILF said that the Aquino administration can change the Constitution through a constitutional process. (Romy Elusfa
QUEZON City, May 8, 2011—A constitutionalist who is now a senior member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has claimed Charter change is the only way to end the Bangsamoro problem.
Atty. Michael Mastura, elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1971, said “there is no other way” to resolve the Bangsamoro problem but a Charter change “because our issue is a constitutional issue.”
He gave the statement in answer to a question raised by a nun during a series of consultation meetings with the MILF peace negotiators at TECHNOHUB along Commonwealth Ave.
One of the nuns who attended the consultation meeting had asked Mastura if the MILF proposal would require constitutional change.
“The answer to this question is the very solution to the issue of independenc,” the lawyer said.
Mastura and four other panel members took turns in answering the question raised by a representative of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines from different perspectives.
Passionate as he has ever been, Mastura emphasized that the MILF has already abandoned its bid for independence even if they could “not accept a unitary state,” a reason he cited in appealing for Filipinos to open their minds and closely examine their proposed draft comprehensive agreement that they handed to the government peace panel during the April 27-28 negotiation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Included in the MILF’s draft proposal is an annex that would detail two schemes in changing the constitution, one would be through referendum and the other is amendment by appendage, the latter, Mastura believes may not be readily acceptable for the government.
In expanding the claim that the Moro problem is a constitutional issue, Mastura cited Article 10 of the Constitution which he said has 14 sections about autonomy.
“What is being contested here is Article 10—about the autonomous region, which has 14 sections.”
He implied that what they were asking from government was too much of a compromise from their original demand for independence.
“We are no longer asking for a parity rights. We are only asking for parity esteem,” Mastura told a crowd of over a hundred representatives of church, and civil society organizations.
He added that when the MILF abandoned its demand for cessation, they were “open to unity. We want unity with you,” referring to the non-Muslims.
Since they were “open to unity,” Mastura relayed that they exerted efforts to ensure not to offend the non-Muslims by carefully choosing the language and words they used in their proposals, citing the “Bangsamoro Juridical Entity” in reference to the territory proposed to be government by the Bangsamoro people.
The BJE, classified in three categories, is composed of 785 barangays in Muslim dominated areas of Mindanao.
“But even the Supreme Court,” which botched the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in 2008, “did not even know what it was.”
In the MILF’s draft, it proposed a State-Sub-state relationship between the national government and the Moro-governed region in Mindanao and since the country’s Constitution does not speak of it (State-Sub-state) the more there is a need to change the Charter, Mastura told the crowd which majority expressed support to the GPH-MILF peace process at the end of the consultation.
Many of the participants to the consultation admitted they campaigned against the MOA-AD in 2008 because they believed that changing the Constitution would open a floodgate of proposed changes to the Charter that would ensure then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could hold on to power.
The MILF said that the Aquino administration can change the Constitution through a constitutional process. (Romy Elusfa
Charter change, answer to Bangsamoro problem—MILF
Charter change, answer to Bangsamoro problem—MILF
QUEZON City, May 8, 2011—A constitutionalist who is now a senior member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has claimed Charter change is the only way to end the Bangsamoro problem.
Atty. Michael Mastura, elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1971, said “there is no other way” to resolve the Bangsamoro problem but a Charter change “because our issue is a constitutional issue.”
He gave the statement in answer to a question raised by a nun during a series of consultation meetings with the MILF peace negotiators at TECHNOHUB along Commonwealth Ave.
One of the nuns who attended the consultation meeting had asked Mastura if the MILF proposal would require constitutional change.
“The answer to this question is the very solution to the issue of independenc,” the lawyer said.
Mastura and four other panel members took turns in answering the question raised by a representative of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines from different perspectives.
Passionate as he has ever been, Mastura emphasized that the MILF has already abandoned its bid for independence even if they could “not accept a unitary state,” a reason he cited in appealing for Filipinos to open their minds and closely examine their proposed draft comprehensive agreement that they handed to the government peace panel during the April 27-28 negotiation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Included in the MILF’s draft proposal is an annex that would detail two schemes in changing the constitution, one would be through referendum and the other is amendment by appendage, the latter, Mastura believes may not be readily acceptable for the government.
In expanding the claim that the Moro problem is a constitutional issue, Mastura cited Article 10 of the Constitution which he said has 14 sections about autonomy.
“What is being contested here is Article 10—about the autonomous region, which has 14 sections.”
He implied that what they were asking from government was too much of a compromise from their original demand for independence.
“We are no longer asking for a parity rights. We are only asking for parity esteem,” Mastura told a crowd of over a hundred representatives of church, and civil society organizations.
He added that when the MILF abandoned its demand for cessation, they were “open to unity. We want unity with you,” referring to the non-Muslims.
Since they were “open to unity,” Mastura relayed that they exerted efforts to ensure not to offend the non-Muslims by carefully choosing the language and words they used in their proposals, citing the “Bangsamoro Juridical Entity” in reference to the territory proposed to be government by the Bangsamoro people.
The BJE, classified in three categories, is composed of 785 barangays in Muslim dominated areas of Mindanao.
“But even the Supreme Court,” which botched the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in 2008, “did not even know what it was.”
In the MILF’s draft, it proposed a State-Sub-state relationship between the national government and the Moro-governed region in Mindanao and since the country’s Constitution does not speak of it (State-Sub-state) the more there is a need to change the Charter, Mastura told the crowd which majority expressed support to the GPH-MILF peace process at the end of the consultation.
Many of the participants to the consultation admitted they campaigned against the MOA-AD in 2008 because they believed that changing the Constitution would open a floodgate of proposed changes to the Charter that would ensure then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could hold on to power.
The MILF said that the Aquino administration can change the Constitution through a constitutional process. (Romy Elusfa)
QUEZON City, May 8, 2011—A constitutionalist who is now a senior member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has claimed Charter change is the only way to end the Bangsamoro problem.
Atty. Michael Mastura, elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1971, said “there is no other way” to resolve the Bangsamoro problem but a Charter change “because our issue is a constitutional issue.”
He gave the statement in answer to a question raised by a nun during a series of consultation meetings with the MILF peace negotiators at TECHNOHUB along Commonwealth Ave.
One of the nuns who attended the consultation meeting had asked Mastura if the MILF proposal would require constitutional change.
“The answer to this question is the very solution to the issue of independenc,” the lawyer said.
Mastura and four other panel members took turns in answering the question raised by a representative of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines from different perspectives.
Passionate as he has ever been, Mastura emphasized that the MILF has already abandoned its bid for independence even if they could “not accept a unitary state,” a reason he cited in appealing for Filipinos to open their minds and closely examine their proposed draft comprehensive agreement that they handed to the government peace panel during the April 27-28 negotiation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Included in the MILF’s draft proposal is an annex that would detail two schemes in changing the constitution, one would be through referendum and the other is amendment by appendage, the latter, Mastura believes may not be readily acceptable for the government.
In expanding the claim that the Moro problem is a constitutional issue, Mastura cited Article 10 of the Constitution which he said has 14 sections about autonomy.
“What is being contested here is Article 10—about the autonomous region, which has 14 sections.”
He implied that what they were asking from government was too much of a compromise from their original demand for independence.
“We are no longer asking for a parity rights. We are only asking for parity esteem,” Mastura told a crowd of over a hundred representatives of church, and civil society organizations.
He added that when the MILF abandoned its demand for cessation, they were “open to unity. We want unity with you,” referring to the non-Muslims.
Since they were “open to unity,” Mastura relayed that they exerted efforts to ensure not to offend the non-Muslims by carefully choosing the language and words they used in their proposals, citing the “Bangsamoro Juridical Entity” in reference to the territory proposed to be government by the Bangsamoro people.
The BJE, classified in three categories, is composed of 785 barangays in Muslim dominated areas of Mindanao.
“But even the Supreme Court,” which botched the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in 2008, “did not even know what it was.”
In the MILF’s draft, it proposed a State-Sub-state relationship between the national government and the Moro-governed region in Mindanao and since the country’s Constitution does not speak of it (State-Sub-state) the more there is a need to change the Charter, Mastura told the crowd which majority expressed support to the GPH-MILF peace process at the end of the consultation.
Many of the participants to the consultation admitted they campaigned against the MOA-AD in 2008 because they believed that changing the Constitution would open a floodgate of proposed changes to the Charter that would ensure then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could hold on to power.
The MILF said that the Aquino administration can change the Constitution through a constitutional process. (Romy Elusfa)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Moro groups call for own rule
Moro groups call for own rule
Mindanao people want peace for the region 'sooner rather than later'
Romy Elusfa, Cotabato City
Philippines
April 28, 2011
Moro groups on the southern island of Mindanao have urged the government to ensure a negotiated peace settlement with rebels and to create a Bangsamoro (Moro nation) sub-state.
Their call came during a “send-off” procession for Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace negotiators, ahead of the reopening of peace talks in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
“No to endless negotiations,” read banners and placards held up by spectators along the procession’s route.
Up to 10,000 people took part in the 500-vehicle procession, which started in Cotabato City and passed through the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.
Participants also called on the government and the MILF to immediately sign a comprehensive agreement for peace in Mindanao.
Bobby Benito, executive director of the Bangsamoro Council for Just Peace, said the people’s participation in the procession was “a manifestation of our agreement with the legitimate demands that the MILF has forwarded to the government.”
Carlo Abdulmalik Cleofe, advocacy officer of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus, said the procession “shows that the Bangsamoro people are really behind the negotiations and the MILF’s agenda.”
In Davao City, peace activists set up a 200-meter “human chain for peace” not only to show support for the peace talks but also “to demand concrete results from the negotiations.”
Government peace negotiators yesterday said they had no illusions that their own requirements for consultation will be easy.
“What we are trying to achieve… is a political settlement which should embody what we in government can deliver,” said lawyer Marvic Leonen, chairman of the government peace panel.
He praised the MILF decision to conduct consultations with non-Moro groups. “We are here to negotiate ways to solve problems,” Leonen said.
Mindanao people want peace for the region 'sooner rather than later'
Romy Elusfa, Cotabato City
Philippines
April 28, 2011
Moro groups on the southern island of Mindanao have urged the government to ensure a negotiated peace settlement with rebels and to create a Bangsamoro (Moro nation) sub-state.
Their call came during a “send-off” procession for Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace negotiators, ahead of the reopening of peace talks in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
“No to endless negotiations,” read banners and placards held up by spectators along the procession’s route.
Up to 10,000 people took part in the 500-vehicle procession, which started in Cotabato City and passed through the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.
Participants also called on the government and the MILF to immediately sign a comprehensive agreement for peace in Mindanao.
Bobby Benito, executive director of the Bangsamoro Council for Just Peace, said the people’s participation in the procession was “a manifestation of our agreement with the legitimate demands that the MILF has forwarded to the government.”
Carlo Abdulmalik Cleofe, advocacy officer of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus, said the procession “shows that the Bangsamoro people are really behind the negotiations and the MILF’s agenda.”
In Davao City, peace activists set up a 200-meter “human chain for peace” not only to show support for the peace talks but also “to demand concrete results from the negotiations.”
Government peace negotiators yesterday said they had no illusions that their own requirements for consultation will be easy.
“What we are trying to achieve… is a political settlement which should embody what we in government can deliver,” said lawyer Marvic Leonen, chairman of the government peace panel.
He praised the MILF decision to conduct consultations with non-Moro groups. “We are here to negotiate ways to solve problems,” Leonen said.
MILF: Kato is our problem
MILF: Kato is our problem
Kuala Lumpur, Apr. 28 - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) clarified that Ustadz Amiril Umra Kato is "still part of the MILF and is considered an internal problem."
MILF Panel Chair Mohagher Iqbal disclosed this today, the last day of the 21st formal exploratory talks between the government and the armed group from southern Philippines.
Iqbal made this clarification upon the request of the Philippine government who views with 'serious concern' the issue of Kato and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) which he founded.
"Kato will respect the peace negotiations. He will not commit any form of agression," Iqbal stressed. "You should leave the problem (Kato) to us."
Iqbal said that what Kato cannot tolerate is the endless peace negotiations and the inability of government to deliver on its promises.
On August 2008, Kato was believed to be behind the outbreak of violence in Mindanao following the non-signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.
At the opening ceremony of the recently concluded round of talks, GPH chief negotiator Marvic Leonen asked the MILF for clarification on the Kato issue.
"At this point, it will be difficult to get the needed political critical mass to implement an agreement of the magnitude that is implied in your Revised Comprehensive Compact if there are unaddressed spliter groups from your movement," Leonen stated. #
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
GPH to MILF: See the problems realistically
GPH to MILF: See the problems realistically
Kuala Lumpur, Apr. 28 – As their formal exploratory talks began today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the government told the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that underlying issues of negotiations require them to see problems realistically.
“We are here to negotiate ways to solve problems. That principally requires that we are open to seeing the problem realistically,” said Marvic Leonen, Government of the Philippines (GPH) panel chair for the MILF talks, during his opening statement in the 21st GPH-MILF formal exploratory talks in Malaysia.
In his statement, Leonen cited two issues that he said may affect the “workability of any final agreement”. These refer to the consideration of a previously signed accord with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that deals with the same areas and peoples as that of the MILF; and the issue of alleged splinter groups such as that formed by Ustadz Amiril Umra Kato.
Considering that the government has signed a Final Peace Agreement with the MNLF in 1996, Leonen sees that the current negotiations with the MILF deals with much of the same ground and in representation of the same peoples.
Leonen, with that, hoped that that the MILF can consider the offshoots of the situation as a problem that both panels can mutually address.
“We hope that the MNLF and the MILF’s commitment, both representing the Bangsamoro peoples, should not be at cross purposes with each other,” added Leonen.
Meanwhile, the GPH panel chair likewise stressed on the alleged separation of Kato’s group, now called the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
The chair mentioned some concerns that the government panel has been trying to get answers including: the threat of setting up another negotiating table for the BIFF, in case the GPH has already signed an agreement with MILF; the question on the BIFF still being part of MILF; the uncertainty on authority over MILF’s coercive forces; the assurance of the BIFF respecting ceasefires of the government with MILF; and the extent of the BIFF constituency on Kato’s areas of operation.
In August 2008, Kato was a prominent figure behind the outbreak of violence following the non-signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).#
Kuala Lumpur, Apr. 28 – As their formal exploratory talks began today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the government told the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that underlying issues of negotiations require them to see problems realistically.
“We are here to negotiate ways to solve problems. That principally requires that we are open to seeing the problem realistically,” said Marvic Leonen, Government of the Philippines (GPH) panel chair for the MILF talks, during his opening statement in the 21st GPH-MILF formal exploratory talks in Malaysia.
In his statement, Leonen cited two issues that he said may affect the “workability of any final agreement”. These refer to the consideration of a previously signed accord with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that deals with the same areas and peoples as that of the MILF; and the issue of alleged splinter groups such as that formed by Ustadz Amiril Umra Kato.
Considering that the government has signed a Final Peace Agreement with the MNLF in 1996, Leonen sees that the current negotiations with the MILF deals with much of the same ground and in representation of the same peoples.
Leonen, with that, hoped that that the MILF can consider the offshoots of the situation as a problem that both panels can mutually address.
“We hope that the MNLF and the MILF’s commitment, both representing the Bangsamoro peoples, should not be at cross purposes with each other,” added Leonen.
Meanwhile, the GPH panel chair likewise stressed on the alleged separation of Kato’s group, now called the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
The chair mentioned some concerns that the government panel has been trying to get answers including: the threat of setting up another negotiating table for the BIFF, in case the GPH has already signed an agreement with MILF; the question on the BIFF still being part of MILF; the uncertainty on authority over MILF’s coercive forces; the assurance of the BIFF respecting ceasefires of the government with MILF; and the extent of the BIFF constituency on Kato’s areas of operation.
In August 2008, Kato was a prominent figure behind the outbreak of violence following the non-signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).#
Peace advocates: Kato not a hindrance to PH-MILF negotiations
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