Manila signs historic peace pact with MLF

Manila signs historic peace pact with MLF

MANILA - The Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have signed a historic pact to end one of Asia's longest and deadliest insurgencies, though fears remain that splinter rebel groups may derail the fragile peace.

"What is being presented before us now is a path that can lead to a permanent change in the status quo in Muslim Mindanao," said Philippine President Benigno Aquino at the ceremony here on Thursday.

The five-page "Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (Muslim nation)" was signed by teams led by chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and MILF panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal.

MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said the agreement "finally brings with it the restoration of the identity, powers and resources of the Bangsamoro. These three things, which have been ours since time immemorial and which were unjustly taken by colonisation and occupation, are now returned to us".

The pact, which Malaysia helped broker, concludes 17 years of negotiations spanning five Philippine presidents and three Malaysian prime ministers.

It aims to end a war that has torn Mindanao for more than 40 years and claimed over 150,000 lives, a conflict that has spread to Malaysia's shores as refugees from Mindanao seek shelter in Malaysia's Sabah state.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who led hundreds of foreign dignitaries as witnesses, called the deal "a momentous act of courage".

"Today, we turn to face the light," he said. "Today belongs to the Philippines and the people of the Bangsamoro."

The MILF is the largest of the Muslim rebel groups battling for independence in Mindanao - which they regard as their ancestral homeland - to sign a peace accord. The military estimates that it has about 12,000 fighters.

A pact signed by the rival Moro National Liberation Front in 1996 did not last and that group remains a threat, along with MILF splinter groups such as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Malaysia played a pivotal role in the peace process for the new deal. In 2012, it hosted talks that led to a "framework peace agreement" that underpinned the Bangsamoro agreement.

Kuala Lumpur wants peace in Mindanao because of the large population of Filipinos driven to Sabah by the Mindanao conflict.

Malaysia has also had to wrestle with a standing claim of a Muslim royal clan in Sulu province in Mindanao over Sabah state. In February and March last year, dozens died when a band of armed men calling themselves the "Royal Army of Sulu" laid siege to Lahad Datu, a village in Sabah.

The peace pact signed on Thursday calls on the MILF's leaders to order their men to give up their arms while themselves becoming politicians leading the autonomous region. The region will comprise about 10 per cent of the Philippines' territory, have its own police force, a regional parliament and power to levy taxes. The national government will retain control over defence.

Observers and some of those in the government and the MILF warn, however, of the obstacles to total peace that have yet to be overcome before Mr Aquino's term ends in 2016. "Implementation will not be easy," Ms Coronel-Ferrer, the government negotiator, conceded.

But in his speech before the signing ceremony, Mr Aquino vowed: "I will not let peace be snatched from my people again."

Philippine presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles expressed optimism.

"The signal and prayer are so strong and unrelenting: No more war, no more children scampering for safety, no more evacuees, no more lost school days or school months, no more injustice, no more misgovernance, no more poverty. no more fear and no more want," she said.

"Enough. We are all tired of it. A new dawn has come."

rdancel@sph.com.sg


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