Talks aim for new autonomous gov’t

ILIGAN CITY—Government and Moro guerrilla negotiators are moving forward with talks aimed at ending the war for an independent Moro state in Mindanao and will next define what powers are to be bestowed upon a new Moro government that could satisfy a scaled down guerrilla demand for “genuine autonomy,” the negotiators said in a joint statement.

The statement, released on Wednesday and which summarized the results of talks held in Kuala Lumpur from Jan. 9-11, said the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) panels had “constructive discussions on substantive issues” during the three-day meeting.

At a meeting also in Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 5-7, the two panels had agreed there was a need for a new autonomous government in Mindanao to give self-rule to the Moro people.

How the new autonomous setup would look like, however, would be determined in future talks. The next round of talks in Kuala Lumpur is set next month.

Mohagher Iqbal, head of the MILF panel, said guerrillas are demanding a degree of self-rule higher than that currently existing in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), an autonomous setup that was the product of a 1996 pact between the government and the now highly divided Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Iqbal listed several models for the MILF’s concept of autonomy—Hong Kong, Scotland, Puerto Rico and The Aland Islands.

Scotland entered into a political union with England in the 16th century; Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China; Puerto Rico is a self-governing territory of the United States; and The Aland Islands is an autonomous region of the Swedish-speaking people in Finland.

MILF, Iqbal said, would reject “sham autonomy” and accept an autonomous setup that is “short of an independent state.”

MILF, he said, learned from the mistakes of the MNLF. “Today, the MNLF is not only frustrated but had failed miserably in its quest to empower our people,” said Iqbal.

Future meetings are to be devoted to defining the new autonomous government, including what powers it would exercise separately from the national government.

The current ARMM has powers to craft its own laws, collect taxes and define policies on health, environment and education among other things. It doesn’t have the power to set up its own police and military force.

Iqbal acknowledged that the MILF’s concept of autonomy may require amendments to the Constitution, which Malacañang wouldn’t support.

After a meeting with MILF leaders in Tokyo, President Aquino announced that MILF had dropped its demand for an independent state and scaled it down to autonomy.

According to the joint statement on the Jan. 9-11 meeting, the two panels “identified areas of common ground. Ryan D. Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao