MANILA, Philippines -- Signaling a change in approach, President Macapagal-Arroyo now appears convinced that giving peace advocates outside government a pivotal role in the peace process with the separatist Moro rebels could be key to achieving lasting peace in the troubled south.

During the state banquet she hosted Friday for the visiting Kuwaiti prime minister, President Arroyo said she wanted non-government organizations to spearhead peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“Yes, there are political dynamics. We are working to sort them out,” Ms Arroyo told Sheikh Masser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and select Kuwaiti ministers who arrived Friday in Manila for a daylong official visit.

“The government will assume a supporting role and let non-government organizations... spearhead the discussions for the problematic concerns. We want to end the conflict that clearly claimed more than 120,000 lives,” said the President.

Ms Arroyo said the Kuwaiti leader's presence was a “boost to bring about long-lasting peace in Mindanao, just as our brothers in the Middle East look forward to a long-lasting peace in the Middle East.”

The Kuwaiti prime minister, in turn, praised the government for adhering to democratic ways.

“Both our countries... believe in democracy as a method of rule, and we strongly (adhere to) the notions of freedom, justice,” said the sheikh, describing the Philippines as a “beautiful country.”

Ms Arroyo's mention in her speech of the new role of the NGOs in ending the rebellion of the Moros raised several questions, to wit: the extent of powers to be given to the NGOs and whether it would mean that the government panel was now amenable to a renegotiation of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).

The high court stopped the signing of the MOA set for August 5 in Malaysia after local officials in Mindanao claimed that they had not bee consulted by the peace panel during the crafting of the MOA-AD.

The accord, which the government says still needs an enabling law and plebiscite to be implemented, seeks to carve out an expanded Bangsamoro homeland in Mindanao and parts of Palawan under the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

The President's men provided some answers on Saturday.

In separate phone interviews with the Inquirer, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio denied that the President had already abandoned the MOA-AD amid the furor over the inclusion of several provinces and cities without ample consultations with affected residents.

“It's nothing more than saying that NGOs should participate. Don't leave everything to government,” said Ermita, pointing out that some Mindanao leaders have been criticizing government for lack of adequate consultation.

Asked which NGOs in Mindanao were being eyed, Ermita mentioned at least two -- the Christian-Muslim for Peace and the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy of Amina Rasul-Bernardo.

Ermita said rumors about renegotiating the MOA-AD could have not have emanated from the Palace.

“We can't make a move unless the Supreme Court makes a decision on the temporary restraining order (TRO). We have to await the final action of the SC,” he said, noting that Solicitor General Agnes Devandera was scheduled to argue the government's position on August 22.

“Will the Supreme Court lift the TRO? What will be its order?” he said.

Ermita explained that that government was expected to think of different scenarios.

“But this (back-up plan) is hardly being considered right now,” lest the Supreme Court think “it is the thinking of government planners.”

A Palace official, who was not authorized to speak about the MOA, said the government was mulling the creation of a Council of Elders which will advise the panel in talks with the MILF.

Claudio inadvertently confirmed this when he told the Inquirer that President Arroyo wanted all stakeholders to help in crafting a final peace accord with the Moro rebels.

He said Mindanao folk should be given a pivotal role in the negotiations.

But he denied reports that Malacañang was abandoning the MOA-AD.

“Sorry I have nothing on that,” he said Friday night.

“There's no order to renegotiate the MOA-AD,” he said, explaining that the next course of action of government “depends on the outcome of the Supreme Court petition” filed by Mindanao officials.

Claudio explained that it will be a wrong move to even suggest a renegotiation of the MOA when the case is being scrutinized by the high tribunal.