MANILA, Philippines - With the peace process possibly in peril amid calls for retribution against the killers of 44 elite police commandos in Maguindanao, the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels appealed yesterday to the nation to give peace a chance, warning that the alternative is “simply unthinkable.”
Both sides told a press briefing in Kuala Lumpur that two days of talks in Malaysia on disarming the rebels had made progress, and they vowed not to waver in implementing an accord on the voluntary surrender of weapons.
It was announced in the meeting the decommissioning of weapons and forces would begin this month.
The MILF has waged a decades-long insurgency in Mindanao, but an accord signed last year has raised hopes of a lasting peace.
“We want the Mamasapano encounter to be the last ugly turn in the road to peace,” chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said in her opening statement at the press conference jointly held with the MILF peace panel.
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal also expressed his group’s full commitment to the peace process.
Mamasapano is a remote village in Maguindanao where Special Action Force (SAF) policemen clashed with hundreds of MILF fighters for hours last Sunday. Aiding the MILF guerrillas were fighters of the radical Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
President Aquino, who must convince Congress to approve the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), is under mounting pressure to strike back at the rebels.
“In the next few days we know there will be challenges before us,” Ferrer said.
She said the government would engage with lawmakers to keep the peace process on track.
Ferrer warned of dire consequences if the process is allowed to crumble. “The other alternative is simply unthinkable,” she said.
“It will bring chaos and bring about the rise of other groups (and) even more extremists with very radical ideologies,” Ferrer added.
The Philippine Star
