Gov't tried to end MNLF peace deal review

Gov't tried to end MNLF peace deal review

Philippine government’s attempt to terminate the peace review process with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has triggered the war situation in Zamboanga City, according to the militant group Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM). 

PLM chairman Sonny Melencio said his group has proof that the government, through Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, “attempted to end the peace agreement with the MNLF by requesting the termination of the ‘Tripartite Review Process’ in a letter to his Indonesian counterpart Dr. R.M. Marty Natalegawa.”

Melencio said a letter by Del Rosario to Natalegawa dated March 21, 2013, “stated that the government 'reiterate again' its request for Indonesia, as chair of the OIC-PCPS [OIC-Peace Committee for Southern Philippines], 'to put the closure of the Tripartite Review Process as the agenda for the next Tripartite Meeting. … All the issues attending the tripartite review process have already been resolved, and that it is now the right time to put an end to the review process.'”

The Del Rosario letter, which Melencio said was part of several documents shown to him by a senior MNLF official, was also a reiteration of a similar letter sent on January 30, 2013 to the Indonesian foreign minister.

The Tripartite Review Process involves the government of the Philippines, the MNLF and the OIC. The review process began in 2007 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to deal with the MNLF concerns about the lack of full implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the government and the MNLF. 

“The current fighting between the MNLF forces loyal to founding chairman Nur Misuari and the Armed Forces of the Philippines – which has resulted in Zamboanga City being turned into a war zone – clearly demonstrates that the outstanding issues have by no means been resolved,” Melencio said. “It also raises serious questions about government claims that it has not attempted to close down the negotiations with the MNLF and exclude them from the peace process. The correspondence between Del Rosario and the Indonesian government indicates that the opposite was in fact the case.”

He said the explanatory note attached to the letter claims that the issues raised by Nur Misuari “were already addressed.” It, however, adds a contradictory statement that the Framework Agreement signed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on October 15, 2012, “will actually address the ‘unresolved issues’ that Misuari is insisting on.” 

“While the government is at pains to blame the recent fighting on the 'Misuari faction' of the MNLF, we don’t think such crude 'divide and rule' tactics will help achieve lasting peace in Mindanao. The MILF, for example, has now called on the government to accommodate the demands of Nur Misuari in the Framework Agreement and for a review of all previous agreements,” Melencio said. 

He added that the government has bungled an opportunity for achieving a historic peace in Mindanao and is now having to mop up the disaster from an armed conflict, which has resulted in hundreds of casualties, destruction of homes and livelihoods and over 100,000 evacuees in the last few days. #

Contact person: Sonny Melencio, Chairperson Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), 09285080287