Gov’t vows no secret pact with MILF
The Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) on Wednesday dismissed reports that the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had inked a secret agreement to resolve the conflict in Mindanao.
OPAPP Assistant Secretary Rosalie Romero also denied rumors in Mindanao that the supposed agreement would lead to the postponement of elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that had been rescheduled for next year.
“What you are hearing in Mindanao that there was a signing of an interim agreement that would postpone the ARMM elections is not true,” Romero said in a forum organized by the Blas Ople Policy Center in Ortigas, Pasig City.
“There’s no such agreement. What both sides agreed on in April were the 10 decision points on principles, or the parameters, the agenda that would further guide the negotiations,” she said.
“Whatever happens, with or without an agreement, the elections will push through,” she added.
The rumors may have been fanned by the understanding between the MILF and the government that the ARMM should be replaced by a “new autonomous political entity” (NPE).
“That’s one of the decision points … that the status quo in the ARMM is not acceptable because there are lots of problems there,” Romero said.
“So the government agreed that there should be a new form of government for them that would be more effective in the governance of the ARMM. There are other forms of government like a ministerial form, which is allowed by the Constitution,” she said.
Romero said President Aquino had categorically instructed the government peace panel that any agreement should be “in accordance with the Constitution (or) within the bounds and flexibility of the Constitution.”
She added that Mr. Aquino also ordered the panel to make public any agreement before it is signed by either party in the talks.
“The President has promised that he will not sign an agreement unless the public has been informed about it,” Romero said.
“(Mr. Aquino) has used his name to persuade our lawmakers to postpone the ARMM elections to 2013. He will not go back on his word and now say that the elections would no longer push through,” she said.
Under the “10 decision points” guidelines signed in Kuala Lumpur on April 24, both sides recognized “Bangsamoro identity and the legitimate grievances and claims of the Bangsamoro people.”
“The parties agree that the status quo is unacceptable and that the parties will work for the creation of a new autonomous political entity in place of the ARMM,” the guidelines said.
“The new autonomous political entity shall have a ministerial form of government,” it added.
