‘MNLF peace pact has to be amended’

DAVAO CITY — Chief government peace negotiator Silvestre Afable said there shall be no final peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) unless the peace accord forged with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996 is amended.

Afable said both the MNLF and the MILF have to agree on the amendments to the 1996 peace agreement before a final peace deal with the MILF can be ironed out.

"There is really a need to amend certain provisions in the 1996 agreement with the MNLF. No amendments in the 1996 peace accord would mean that no peace agreement with the MILF would be reached," Afable told reporters.

Afable, who arrived here over the weekend to address a meeting of Mindanao peace advocates, said the government cannot grant concessions to the MILF in the ongoing peace process unless the amendments are made.

He said certain proposed concessions in the peace negotiations with the MILF are overlapping with those already granted to the MNLF.

"It is true. You are talking here of the same territories, the same areas and so, there is really a need for both the MNLF and the MILF to talk so that peace could finally be achieved in Mindanao," he said.

Discussions on amending the 1996 MNLF peace accord came amid strong protests from certain factions within the MNLF that the government has reneged on its pledge to properly implement the agreement.

"That is why we really have to address these concerns as these are lessons learned from the 1996 peace agreement," Afable said.

Afable said the government foresees that it could reach a final peace accord with the MILF by September at the earliest or by November at the latest.

"It is already ripe for a peace agreement to be reached with the MILF," he said.

Afable said the MNLF peace accord could be amended through legislative or administrative act or constitutional amendment.

He said talks are now ongoing between the MNLF and MILF on what these amendments would be and how they could be carried out.

Afable said among the provisions that could be affected include those on substantive powers, governance, and the management of resources.

Afable said the government would not have any hand in whatever the two groups would agree upon.

"The government should not get into the picture when the MNLF and the MILF (discuss the proposed amendments). It should be a product of what the two groups want," he said.

The government and MILF peace panels are about to wind up their discussions on the contentious issue of ancestral domain.

"Hopefully, by the end of March, we will be able to resume formal talks to pave the way for the crafting of a final peace agreement," Afable said.