Mindanao businessmen want to be consulted in gov’t-MILF talks

MANILA, Philippines –The business community wants to be consulted in the ongoing talks between the government and the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Edgar Bagarinao, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) governor for Western Mindanao and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), stressed the propriety of consulting other stakeholders like the business sector in the affected provinces. “(It is) the diplomatic thing to do” by the government, he said.

“We are not saying that they (government) should not talk to them (MILF), because it is their obligation to resolve this issue,” Bagarinao told INQUIRER.net after the press conference launching the 20th Mindanao Business Conference (MinBizCon) set on September 7 to 9 in Pagadian City.

The statement came amid ongoing peace negotiations in Malaysia between the government’s and MILF’s respective peace panels.

Bagarinao said that the business community welcomes the negotiations since it is geared toward attaining peace in Mindanao, which has been hounded by problems of insurgency due to several rebel groups like the MILF and the al Queda-linked kidnap for ransom group Abu Sayyaf.

“The envisioned result of these negotiations is peace and anything towards that vision is a positive development for us,” Bagarinao said. “But the government should not forget those who are not part of the MILF.”

He added that aside from the business sector, local residents and natives of provinces covered by the proposed autonomous state should likewise be consulted.

“Kami ang nakatira doon, kami ang direktang maapektuhan, (We are the ones who live there, we will be directly affected),” Bagarinao said.

The MILF has proposed a Bangsamoro autonomous state, which it had earlier admitted was anchored on the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain junked by the Supreme Court due to its unconstitutionality.
Aside from the ARMM, the MILF also wants to include neighboring provinces populated predominantly by Muslims like the provinces of North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Sultan Kudarat and the municipalities of Balacbac and Batarasa in Palawan province.

However, he admitted that the ongoing peace negotiations was not part of the agenda to be discussed during the upcoming business meeting, adding that he did not know if any of the stakeholders invited to attend the conference would raise the matter.

The MinBizCon is the largest annual gathering of businessmen, concerned government leaders and other stakeholders in the region. Expected to attend are representatives from local chambers of commerce, trade and industry associations, national and local government executives, and members of the academe.