OIC delegation to check progress of RP-MNLF pact in Mindanao

A delegation from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) will visit Mindanao next week at the government’s invitation to see for themselves the progress in the implementation of the 1996 peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo thanked the countries composing the OIC’s Committee of the Eight in his briefing with their ambassadors at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Pasay City yesterday.

"This visit is an important opportunity to see how far we have gone together in our journey towards peace and progress through the comprehensive implementation of Phase 2 of the GRP-MNLF agreement," he said.

Romulo said the government’s compliance with the peace agreement brokered by Indonesia was recognized by OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu during a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last year at the sidelines of the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit.

"Of course, the visit also affords the OIC and the Committee of the Eight the chance to witness one other significant fruit of the peace process: the increased interaction and cooperation between and among the Mindanao stakeholders through meaningful dialogue," he said.

Romulo said the visit of the Committee of the Eight, chaired by Indonesia, to Mindanao is intended to show how the Philippine government is protecting the local environment and effectively addressing other concerns, he added.

The Committee of the Eight, composed of Brunei, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, Libya, Indonesia and Bangladesh, is tasked by the OIC to monitor the implementation of the peace agreement between the Philippine government and the MNLF.

Romulo said the OIC and its member-states were instrumental in the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the MNLF in 1996.

"Today, you continue to be our vital and active partners in the full transformation of Mindanao," he told the OIC ambassadors.

The chances of granting the Philippines’ application for an observer status in the OIC is believed tied to the government’s compliance with the peace agreement with the MNLF.

Romulo said the Philippines remains hopeful that it will be granted an observer status in the OIC as long as it continues to receive assurances of support from member countries for the bid.

He said he received assurances of support for the government’s observer status bid during the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit and in his meeting with Ihsanoglu and other key member-states of the 57-member OIC in Jeddah last year, he added.

Romulo attended the summit upon the invitation of the OIC and the Saudi Arabian government.

Romulo said while the OIC is studying a possible review of the criteria for membership, he is not aware if the OIC will look into the observer status.

The Philippines will continue to work hard to get the OIC’s approval for its application, he added.

The observer status granted to Russia in the OIC is a positive sign for the Philippines, Romulo said.

The Philippine bid was strongly supported by a number of OIC members, among them Turkey, but he did not mention if the country’s application was tackled during the meeting in Yemen last June.

Earlier, diplomatic sources said the Philippines has again failed to secure a permanent observer status in the OIC.

The Philippine application is not included in the agenda of the 32nd Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Sana’a, Yemen from June 28 to 30, 2006, sources added. — Pia Lee-Brago