Japan wants peace talks with MILF to resume soon

Japan has batted for the resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to allow thousands of evacuees in war-torn areas in Mindanao to return to their homes.

Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura said thousands of families remain in evacuation centers due to the ongoing hostilities.

“The government of Japan sincerely hopes that a complete ceasefire will be re-established immediately and the peace talks between the government of the Philippines and the MILF would resume as soon as possible,” Katsura told reporters during the recent signing of a grant agreement between the Japanese government and the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) in Makati City.

Japan donated P455 million to the WFP for the purchase of rice to be distributed to families affected by the armed conflict in Mindanao.

Newly installed Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino Razon Jr. earlier said the government and the MILF would resume peace negotiations anytime this month.

Razon said any agreement to be forged with the MILF would be based on the Constitution to avoid what happened to the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain which the Supreme Court (SC) declared unconstitutional in August last year.

Angered by the SC decision, MILF commanders Abdurahman Macapaar and Ameril Ombra Kato attacked several villages in Mindanao, killing dozens of people and displacing hundreds of families. – With Pia Lee-Brago