MILF told gov’t wants peace

KORONADAL CITY—President Aquino’s chief adviser on the peace process defended the President’s failure to mention talks with Moro guerrillas in his State of the Nation Address on Monday.

Teresita Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process, said the absence of the peace process in Mr. Aquino’s SONA didn’t mean peace wasn’t the government’s priority.

Deles said the Aquino administration’s sincerity in the talks was unquestionable and its noninclusion in the President’s SONA should not be used as a measure of whether the government wanted it to succeed or not.

“He (President) is even giving it much attention. The peace talks are in his agenda. The MILF has nothing to worry about,” Deles said by phone.

Deles said the President’s sincerity in peace talks with the MILF can be gleaned from the progress of the talks.

She said much has been achieved since the negotiations restarted after it stalled in the aftermath of the botched memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain.

Deles did not say what the specific achievements were.

“The President is serious in the negotiations and the people will see that in the coming days,” she said.

Mohagher Iqbal, MILF peace negotiator, said Aquino’s failure to mention the talks in his Sona contributed to perceptions the government was not sincere.

He said it would have been better if Aquino outlined what his government planned to do to end the Moro rebellion. Jeoffrey Maitem and Charlie Señase, Inquirer Mindanao