The release of Fr. Michael Sinnott relieves a lot of apprehension and anxiety of relatives and friends who had been praying for the release of the missionary from the hands of the kidnap-for-ransom gang. His freedom came at a time when tension and condemnation of the beheading of a school principal in Patikul, Sulu. At a time when everybody seemed to be in limbo over the whereabouts and condition of the ailing Father Sinnott, the news about his freedom from the clutches of his abductors was truly a big relief.
But there is an added significance to this development. If indeed it is true that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front had a principal role in the release of the religious priest, this adds another lighted candle on the moribund but now resuscitated peace talks between the government and the MILF. Time is running short for the Arroyo government and the MILF to hammer a peace accord that will guarantee that there will be no discord among the communities of people of diverse religious beliefs, cultural practices and other ethnic differences. We believe that the Arroyo government has been working hard to craft an agreement to end the conflicts in Mindanao but unfortunately now time is running very short for this administration. It did not help that the MILF kept on hedging when the call for the resumption of the talks was announced. Despite this however, five months is too long for this peace negotiation to finally come to a fruition for after all both sides have known what is doable and what is inconceivable in their decades of deliberations over how to settle the conflicts in Mindanao.
If we miss this opportunity to ink a stable peace pact with the Arroyo administration, we will have to go back to ground zero. No one knows what and how will the next administration do to deal with the conflict. That all-out-war of the Estrada government has all the cinematic effects but the pyrrhic victory offers no lasting solution. In fact it merely deepens the social and cultural cleavage amongst the inhabitants of Mindanao.
The MILF role in the safe return of Father Sinnott indicates the capacity of the MILF to cooperate with the government and come up with just solution. We hope to see this translated in the same context in conflict resolution in our long and arduous task of finding a lasting, meaningful and stable peace for Mindanao. — RINA DE JESUS, Rosary Heights, Cotabato City