SIMUAY, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front will launch a massive communication program designed to make the public understand issues behind its peace negotiations with the government, in view of criticisms about the lack of transparency in the talks.

Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs, revealed the MILF’s information campaign during the presentation of findings by Konsult Mindanaw in Jaafar's headquarters here Sunday.

"We realized we also have a shortcoming [in informing people]. We relied on the government to reach out to non-Moros and the indigenous peoples. Now, we will do it ourselves. We will reinforce efforts of our provincial committees. We are doubling our efforts in the information campaign" said Jaafar on the planned communication program.

Organized by the Bishops Ulama Conference with the support of the Office of the President and Asia Foundation, Konsult Mindanaw, has conducted more than 300 focus group discussions with almost 5,000 participants in the six regions in Mindanao to consult people on their views and recommendations for the peace process.

The consultations began at the heels of a failed signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), seen as important in forging a comprehensive peace agreement with the MILF.

On October 29, Konsult Mindanaw presented the results of its research to President Macapagal Arroyo who promised to review the "technical details of the Konsult Mindanaw's recommendations and come up with a clear response soon."

Jaafar explained that even at the start of discussions about the MOA-AD, the MILF and government peace panels already had different tasks in communicating and consulting with the people.

"We agreed to conduct the consultations in the Bangsamoro communities in all regions in Mindanao, while the GRP will lead the consultations with the non-Moros. So it's not true that there were no consultations," said Jaafar.

But Jaafar added, "We have learned our lesson, so now we will have this communication program. Many Christians are apprehensive about the MOA-AD because they have been misinformed about it. We will try to correct that."

During the presentation of results, Father Albert Alejo, executive director of Konsult Mindanaw, echoed the basic sentiments expressed by the participants, including questions on sincerity, on the diverging views and actions of government agencies concerned with the talks, and on the ambiguous positions of the MILF and the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front).

"Sincerity was a recurrent statement that came out from the FGDs (focus group discussions). And people expressed the issue of sincerity by citing, among others, the need for a cohesive and rationalized government peace mechanism as well as the disunity between the MILF and MNLF," said Father Alejo.

Father Alejo said people who took part in the dialogues strongly recommended the conduct of an "intensive communication program to communicate the peace negotiations."

Konsult Mindanaw also saw the need for the government and Mindanao leaders to address the "regional sources of conflict" such as environmental conflict and clan wars.

Issues under environmental conflict include mining and illegal logging. Clan wars or 'rido' had also been found to be a major source of conflict, especially in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Jaafar said the proliferation of loose firearms should be blamed for the crime and violence in Mindanao.