MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 6) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered a "thorough review" of all government peace initiatives after dissolving the panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Malacañang has announced.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said this was in line with the President's policy shift of talking directly to the communities to resolve conflicts.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the decision to dissolve the four-man panel had been ?arrived at before.?

The panel was led by Rodolfo Garcia, with Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, Sylvia Paragoya and Rodolfo Rodil as members.

"President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has directed a new paradigm in the peace process by mandating that peace negotiations be refocused from one centered on dialogue with rebels to one of authentic dialogue," Ermita said in a prepared statement which he read at the Palace.

"Consequently, the President has ordered the GRP [Government of the Republic of the Philippines] for talks with the MILF to be dissolved and to realign all peace initiatives wit the new policy," Ermita said.

Arroyo also ordered Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to "carry out a thorough review of all peace initiatives," including the MILF, the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), the peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), interim agreements with the MILF, and "applicable provisions" of Republic Act 9054 that established the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Esperon and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales will fly to Malaysia to inform its government, the third-party facilitator of the talks, of Malacañang's decision, Ermita said.

Ermita said the consultations with stakeholders would cover the "entire gamut" and would not be limited to the establishment of a Bangsamoro homeland in the south.

"We will not handcuff the incoming panel. They will look at major issues," he said.

He said any peace agreement reached in the consultations would be submitted to Congress for approval.

At the same time, Ermita lamented how the government peace panel was "lured" into turning the botched signing ceremony of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain in Putrajaya, Malaysia last August 5 into a big event.

But Ermita said he was not blaming the Malaysian government for it.

"Huwag natin pasamain ang Malaysia [Let's not make Malaysia look bad]."

"For some reason they were lured into making too formal, a ceremony of having to have a signing of the MOA in the presence of foreign minister of Malaysia, and our secretary of foreign affairs and witnessed by some ambassadors, which made everybody think that that is already the agreement, when for all intents and purposes that moa is just an agenda item," he said.

A temporary restraining order by the Supreme Court on the eve of the ceremony stopped the signing.

Esperon, a former military chief, preempted the Palace announcement when he disclosed the information to reporters in a forum earlier in the day, although he did not give details.

Reports said Zamboanga City Congresswoman Isabelle Climaco has made a similar disclosure and the President herself made an announcement before at least 30 congressmen in a private dinner in Manila.

The dissolution of the government peace panel came as Arroyo reiterated that the peace process would be restarted only after stability was restored in Mindanao, and only after the number of stakeholders in the negotiations would be expanded.

"We must bring stability in the region and regain order before we can effectively reactivate the peace process in earnest," Arroyo said in a speech during a job fair for Muslims in Pasay City on Wednesday.

"The peace process must proceed, but only after we have expanded the number of stakeholders for consultation," she added.

Two weeks ago, Arroyo shifted the focus of the peace talks from the MILF to the communities, after two rebel commanders attacked civilian communities in the provinces of North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte.

"In the light of the recent violent incidents committed by lawless MILF groups, the government will not sign the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD)," Arroyo reiterated.

On Tuesday, Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera forwarded a letter from Ermita to the Supreme Court informing the tribunal that the government would no longer sign the MOA-AD, regardless of the court's decision on petitions questioning its constitutionality.

"Let me take this opportunity to be very clear to those elements who seek disruption and destruction. There will be no peace gained through violence. No peace agreement will be reached through intimidation or the barrel of the gun," she said.

Arroyo also thanked Malaysia for brokering the peace talks between the government and the MILF.

"We would like to thank again our Malaysian brothers, and to assure them that peace is a path we remain firmly committed to achieving and this includes working to achieve a permanent peace in Mindanao," she said.

Arroyo said she hoped that the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, now on its third day this Wednesday, could help pave the way for peace in the south.