MANILA, Philippines—A number of senators are giving newly appointed Deputy National Security Adviser Luis “Chavit” Singson the benefit of the doubt but are skeptical he is the right man to bring peace to Mindanao.

“Chavit is basically qualified, but his expertise is not focused on national security issues. His appointment would not help much in the search for peace in Mindanao,” Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Sen. Francis Escudero saw nothing wrong with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo picking Singson, a former Ilocos Sur governor, as one of her intelligence officers and peacemakers. “No harm, no foul,” he said.

Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan said the public should give Singson the chance to show his mettle.

“We should not dwell too much on personalities but on what they can contribute to the peace process. Let’s not make this an issue of political payback,” Honasan said in an interview with dzBB radio.

Honasan said the public should judge Singson on his performance in the coming months. “Those who are in Luzon should stop being kibitzers and instead let those in Mindanao give Singson a report card for his performance,” he said.

Honasan said that if the government had only crafted a national peace program that would set the parameters in holding a peace pact with rebels, the issue of personalities would not be as important.

As an example, he cited a two-foot-thick report on the peace process made by the National Unification Commission under the late Haydee Yorac.

Sen. Loren Legarda also said Singson should be given more time to prove his worth. “I would like to reserve my judgment until I see his performance,” she said.

Also, Legarda stressed that the majority of the peace panel should be composed of mainstream Muslim groups, businessmen and other minority groups “who really live there and know the problem of Mindanao.”

Expertise required

While she acknowledged that the President had the prerogative to choose her men, Legarda said that Ms Arroyo should take note of the qualification and expertise for the post in her picks instead of making purely political payback.

She also pushed for accountability in the mishandling of the peace negotiations that led to the aborted memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada said that Presidential Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Press Secretary Jesus Dureza and Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia should all be charged with treason for the “unconstitutional provisions” in the MOA-AD that they endorsed.

“It is public knowledge that Dureza is the former peace adviser and Esperon as the current peace adviser were consulted by Garcia regarding the provisions of the MOA-AD, and they did not object to the one-sided provisions that favored the rebels,” Estrada said.

Give Singson a chance

National Security Adviser Noberto Gonzales yesterday said he did not mind Singson’s entry into the spy agency.

“No problem for me,” Gonzales said.

He said that the President had told him “some days back” that Singson would be his deputy. “Let’s give him a chance.”

Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas he and his colleagues were in the dark on Singson’s appointment.

He said both Singson and Gonzales did not have a background in military affairs.

“We expect that national security advisers should have the proper background in military affairs or matters,” Bagaforo said. With reports from Christine O. Avendaño and Margaux C. Ortiz