Enrile wants negotiator of Leonen’s caliber

MANILA, Philippines - In order to ensure continuity and successful conclusion of the peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said President Aquino must designate an equal of newly appointed Supreme Court justice Marvic Leonen in terms of competence to head the government panel.

Speaking at the alumni homecoming event of the University of the Philippines College of Law last Friday, Enrile emphasized that the forging of the framework agreement between the Philippine government and the MILF was just a first step towards attaining lasting peace in Mindanao.

He said that the peace process is a work in progress and should have been continued by Leonen as the head of the government peace panel, but the President had greater things in store for the former dean of the UP College of Law.

“Justice Marvic VF Leonen made us all proud as he led the Philippine government panel in the peace negotiations with the MILF. The framework agreement that was recently concluded has raised much hope for the nation for a durable and lasting peaceful solution to the Mindanao problem,” said Enrile, who was a member of the University’s Law Class of 1953.

Enrile, who once served as Minister of Defense under the Marcos administration, noted that someone with an intimate understanding of the problem and the Constitution should handle the conflict in Mindanao.

“Being one who had personally dealt with and handled the Mindanao problem for many years, I can tell you that it takes no less than a firm and comprehensive grasp of the origins and intricacies of the conflict in Mindanao and the intellectual acumen in searching for a peaceful solution within the strictures of our Constitution to be able to move forward and bring the parties together on the negotiating table without surrendering our sovereignty and the principles that the Republic stands for,” he said.

Several attempts have been made in the past to forge a peace agreement with the MILF but all failed, including the previous administration.

Substantial progress was reported in the peace negotiations during the previous administration, highlighted by the signing of a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) between the two sides.

The agreement was seen at the time as the most significant step towards the forging of a final peace agreement but this was immediately challenged before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court eventually declared the MOA-AD unconstitutional, which resulted in a series of attacks by a renegade group of the MILF on civilian communities in Mindanao.

All negotiations practically ended after the attacks, as the government could no longer honor the MOA-AD and demanded the surrender of the leader of the renegade group before agreeing to any more talks.