CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY?The separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is willing to enter into a peace agreement within what?s left of the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, as long as it will bind her successor to ?a package of obligations.?

MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal Thursday said that on the government?s part, the obligations would expectedly include substantive reforms in the legal framework of the state, including amendments to the Constitution.

?We cannot escape constitutional issues because we are dealing with a government,? Iqbal told the Inquirer.

But for the agreement to be acceptable to the MILF, it should outline the constitutional changes and the new laws and policies to be institutionalized in order to back the political settlement, he said.

Iqbal cited the peace accord between Indonesia and the Banda Aceh rebels, as well as the Good Friday Agreement that settled the conflict in Northern Ireland.

In each of the cases, the peace agreement became part of the state?s legal framework, principally amending the basic charter.

Under the MILF proposal, the obligations will be met by both the separatist group and the government and subjected to independent review and oversight, Iqbal said.

Like Sarawak

He said the conversion of the International Contact Group (ICG) into a monitoring body had been proposed.

The ICG was formed to guarantee the compliance of both camps with any consensus reached during the peace talks. The idea of its inception cropped up in the wake of the aborted signing of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, which led to a fresh outbreak of hostilities.

The Bangsamoro sub-state being proposed by the MILF to address its aspiration for self-governance is ?similar to Sarawak,? Iqbal said.

Sarawak, the largest of Malaysia?s 13 states, was an independent state before it became a British colony in 1946. In 1963, it joined Sabah and the former Crown colonies in Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia.

Under the terms of federation, according to the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, ?Sabah and Sarawak retain certain constitutional prerogatives? like the right to maintain their own immigration controls.

Iqbal said the MILF was confident that the next administration would honor a signed peace agreement ?as we are dealing here with a government, not a specific [presidential] regime.?

But he said any accord would not be final.

Who knows?

?We do not believe in the finality of negotiations for a political solution, but a comprehensive compact that would address as many issues that form the heart of the Moro conflict,? he said.

Early this week, the President?s adviser on the peace process said the MILF should not discount the possibility of Ms Arroyo pushing for a constitutional amendment that would clear the way for a federal setup in Mindanao.

?The President?since she?s leaving, she?s on her way out?can?t promise [the approval of any MILF proposal that entails Charter change, either in a plebiscite or in Congress],? Annabelle Abaya said in an interview on Feb. 15.

But Abaya said this should not be a reason for the MILF to lose hope: ?Who knows where she will be in the next administration? She could still be in a position to push such changes.?

In an unprecedented move, Ms Arroyo is seeking to represent the second district in her home province of Pampanga. Her allies predict that she will clinch a seat in the House of Representatives and even get elected as Speaker.

Sub-state

Abaya spoke of Charter change in general terms. But she conceded that the MILF had always pushed for ?a Bangsamoro sub-state within the Philippine state.?

The next day, Feb. 16, Iqbal confirmed that the MILF was demanding a federal state.

But he complained that the MILF demand was not mentioned by the government in its own draft agreement.

The complaint threatens to derail the resumption of formal negotiations to hammer out a final peace agreement before the end of Ms Arroyo?s term in June.

Open to Cha-cha

Abaya said the government was open to discussing the MILF?s proposed changes to the Constitution.

?It?s not that we?re saying that these changes should not happen, or that we?re rejecting them. We?re saying, ?Let?s discuss it.? It?s got to be a joint action in the sense that we will have to campaign for it,? she said, adding:

?What we?d like to see is the MILF [looking] at this process collaboratively.?

Abaya said the idea of a federal state would require long discussions.

?Are they asking for a federalist type of government? Are they asking for a special administrative region, ... an autonomous region like Scotland, [or] ? a Marianas type of relationship? That?s not clear yet. So we have a lot to discuss,? she said.

In its draft agreement, the government proposed ?enhanced autonomy? for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

?It?s necessary to set up a technical working group with various experts from different sectors?the economy, labor, perhaps agrarian reform, land, maybe finance?in order to be able to detail how to execute [this proposal],? Abaya said.

Prospects ?not good?

But the MILF said the proposal was a rehash of old agreements, and declared that the ?prospects for an agreement? were ?not good.?

Still, Ricardo Saludo, a spokesperson of Ms Arroyo, dismissed speculation that the peace talks had again reached an impasse.

?The main thing is that we have a ceasefire that is holding, there?s continuing communication [between the two camps], and the international community is 110-percent behind both sides,? he said.