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Roundup: A Glimpse of Hope of Peace in Southern Philippines
Hope has dawned in the strife-torn island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines after the government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed a formal peace agreement on June 22.
The agreement, inked by negotiation teams from the two parties during their first round of peace talks that opened in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on June 20, may finally end more than 20 years of armed conflict in Mindanao and pave the way for the rehabilitation and development of the conflict areas.
The agreement commits both the government and the MILF, now the biggest rebel group in the country, to implementing the Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities signed by the two parties on July 18, l997, according to a press statement issued by the government on Sunday.
The l997 ceasefire accord has virtually gone into non-existence as clashes continued unabated between the military and the 12,500-strong MILF, which has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao since 1978.
Decades of fighting has killed some 120,000 people and displaced more in Mindanao, and hampered the development of the island, one of the resources-rich but economically backward areas in the country.
Under the agreement, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) will nominate a committee, which will include Libya, Malaysia and Indonesia, to monitor the implementation of all agreements between the government and the MILF, including the ceasefire accord.
Both sides "shall return evacuees to their place of origin, provide all the necessary financial, material and technical assistance to start a new life," the agreement said, adding that they would also be "awarded reparations" for their properties lost or damaged in the fighting.
It also provides that the MILF "shall determine, lead and manage rehabilitation and development projects in conflict- affected areas except when public funds are involved in which case government procedures and rules will be observed."
The Tripoli pact is widely seen as a result of the all-out peace policy in Mindanao pursued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who made a series of overtures to the MILF to return to the negotiating table soon after she assumed presidency on January 20.
To pave the way for the resumption of peace talks, which collapsed last year after former President Joseph Estrada launched an all-out war against the group, Arroyo first declared a unilateral ceasefire in Mindanao.
Her administration also met some of the MILF's preconditions by dropping murder charges against its leaders in connection with a series of bombings in Metro Manila last year, and agreeing that the talks be held in a third country and brokered by the OIC or an OIC member.
The two side finally resumed formal peace talks in Tripoli on June 20 after they struck a deal in Kuala Lumpur on March 24 to re-open talks in 90 days.
After the just-ended first round of talks in Tripoli, succeeding talks would be held in Malaysia and Indonesia, according to Jesus Dureza, head of the government peace panel.
Other venues are being considered in line with the "shifting venue " policy approved by the president.
Both sides hailed the Tripoli agreement. The government viewed the accord as a "major step" in the peace process in Mindanao. "
She (President Arroyo) sees it as a breakthrough in finally achieving... a final long-term solution to their (MILF) insurgency problem," presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said on Saturday.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the accord would "strengthen the peace process" and lead to the "introduction of economic development in Mindanao."
Although expectations for a lasting peace in Mindanao are high, some observers here cautioned that the desired peace won't come easily because the differences between the government and the MILF as well as the root cause of the rebellion can't be solved quickly.
Besides, whether the ceasefire covered in the agreement can hold on is still to be tested by time, they argued, as the 1997 truce accord has shown its short life.
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