Malaysian PM Arroyo’s first state visitor for the year

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi will be the country’s first foreign visitor this year when he arrives in Manila on Jan. 20.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles told The STAR yesterday that the government will use Badawi’s visit to discuss Malaysia’s role in the peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In an interview during the traditional vin d’honneur at Malacañang last Friday, Deles said government efforts to resume peace talks with the MILF have yet to take off but the peace efforts are proceeding well.

"We might have very good announcements by next week, and hopefully these would augur well for the visit here of Prime Minister Badawi," she said.

Deles said the President remains hopeful the peace talks will start before the May 2004 elections to avoid an escalation of violence.

On the other hand, Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert said they are preparing the agenda of the President’s bilateral talks with Badawi.

"It’s normal for new leaders of (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to go on a swing (of visits to ASEAN member states)," she said.

In her speech before the Kilosbayan forum last Friday, Mrs. Arroyo thanked Malaysia, the United States and members of the Organization of Islamic Conference for supporting peace and development efforts in Mindanao.

"I have been fighting for peace in Mindanao with our allies abroad in order to bring stability, unity and prosperity to our Muslim and Christian peoples here at home," she said.

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammad has committed to Mrs. Arroyo his government’s assistance in the peace talks which are set to be held in Kuala Lumpur this month.

The government suspended peace talks with the National Democratic Front, the CPP’s political arm, in 2001 following the assassination of Quezon Rep. Marcial Punzalan and Cagayan Rep. Rodolfo Aguinaldo by communist rebels.

The 12,500-strong MILF has been waging a 25-year-old guerrilla campaign to set up an Islamic state in the southern part of the largely Roman Catholic Philippines.

Last July, Mrs. Arroyo announced her administration had reached a ceasefire agreement with the MILF. — Marichu Villanueva