MANILA, Philippines?The Philippine government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have signed a deal to keep civilians out of harm?s way during clashes in Mindanao in a goodwill step to restart stalled peace talks.
Ambassador Rafael Seguis, government peace panel chair, and his MILF counterpart, Mohagher Iqbal, signed the Agreement on the Civilian Protection Component of the International Monitoring Team in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday afternoon.
?This is good news,? Annabelle Abaya, newly appointed presidential adviser on the peace process, said in a statement announcing the signing of the agreement.
?The next logical move is to resume the peace negotiations,? said Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesperson.
The agreement was the last of three confidence-building measures identified by both parties as crucial for the resumption of talks.
Agreements on the suspension of military operations and the formation of an international contact group had earlier been signed, according to Seguis.
?Formal resumption of talks is imminent,? he said in a phone interview, adding that both parties were looking at a date for the resumption of talks, ?hopefully before Christmas.?
Formal talks bogged down in August last year following the aborted signing of an agreement expanding the Bangsamoro territory that was later voided by the Supreme Court.
This prompted attacks by the MILF on villages in Central Mindanao and escalated into clashes with government troops, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
Despite the skirmishes, the parties continued back-channeling efforts to restart the talks.
Deal to avert fighting
Seguis said the government panel initiated the agreement to avert renewed violence.
?This is a kind of mechanism that will avoid or minimize the incidents in August last year,? he said. ?There?s relative peace in Mindanao. Some of the IDPs (internally displaced persons) are returning to their homes.?
According to a copy of the agreement released by Malacańang, the government and the MILF ?reconfirm their obligations? under humanitarian and human rights laws to protect civilians and their property during armed conflict.
Under Article 1, both parties commit to refrain from intentionally targeting noncombatants, prevent the suffering of civilian population and avoid acts that would cause collateral damage to civilians.
They also commit not to target facilities like schools, hospitals or mosques; to facilitate the provision of relief supplies to villages; to take precautions to avoid ?incidental loss? of civilian life; and to ensure that relief actions would be undertaken in a purely nondiscriminatory basis.
The parties agreed to issue orders to their respective security forces to conduct operations consistent with their commitments.
International monitors
The parties also agreed to expand the mandate of the international monitoring team (IMT) to include civilian protection.
Under Article 2 on Civilian Protection Component, the IMT will monitor, verify and report the two parties? noncompliance with the principle of protecting civilians and civilian communities.
?Should the IMT cease to operate, the civilian protection component shall remain in place and continue to perform such functions,? the agreement said.
The government and MILF agreed to designate humanitarian organizations and NGOs to carry out their ?civilian protection functions.?
Article 3 provides that the agreement will be part of the IMT?s terms of reference that will be deliberated and agreed on by the parties once the peace talks resume.
The extension of IMT?s term is part of the agenda of the formal talks.
120,000 in evacuation centers
Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral welcomed the accord, saying large numbers of villagers in southern communities that are often in the line of fire will be relieved.
?The people who face the bullets and the bombs will be the happiest to know that there is now this agreement,? Cabral told The Associated Press. ?Many of the displaced haven?t returned home. They?re still traumatized,? she added.
About 120,000 people have remained in evacuation centers, some too nervous to return home despite the absence of conflict, Cabral said.
Displaced civilians have borne the brunt of the conflict, which has claimed at least 120,000 lives since the 1970s.
The fighting in the marshy heartland of Mindanao eased in July, and both sides agreed last month to resume the negotiations.
US and European officials have called for a resumption of the talks, saying the peace process would help turn rebel strongholds into economic growth areas instead of sanctuaries of al-Qaida-linked militants. With reports from Jeoffrey Maitem and Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao; and Associated Press
