MANILA, Philippines — Resource persons in Thursday's Senate inquiry on the Mamasapano clash gave Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano answers on history and the peace process after he tagged Moro rebels as "terrorists."
Cayetano insisted he was against the agreement between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), citing the rebel group's alleged "terrorist" acts in the past and the killing of 44 elite policemen on January 25 as some of his reasons.
"I stand by my word... that we shouldn't continue with the negotiations for peace with the MILF but we should continue the quest for peace unless talikuran ng MILF ang terrorism," Cayetano said.
The senator also brought up a United States document under the Bush administration in 2007 saying it has considered placing the MILF in its list of international terrorist organizations. The document also states that the Philippine government protested against Washington's move as it would jeopardize peace negotiations with the armed group.
"The question [would] be, why am I calling or why have I labeled the organization as terrorist? It is an international legal term." Cayetano, a lawyer by profession, said.
Cayetano, however, did not allow Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles nor MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal to address his point within the time given to him for questioning.
Deles eventually pointed out that the US also previously placed the Irish Republican Army, or IRA, and Nelson Mandela's ANC in its terror list. The groups became part of their countries' political processes.
"The US government had also decided eventually that the best way to dealing terrorism and MILF as a revolutionary movement is the peace process. Alalahanin lang ho natin 'yon," Deles explained. "And in the end that is the policy of the US government that has prevailed."
In 2014, the government signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro hoping to pave the way for the creation of a new region in Mindanao that will address the grievances of armed rebel groups, especially the MILF. It concluded 17 years of negotiations and cemented both sides' eagerness to cease fighting.
Deles said that while revolutionary movements had their moments fueling hostilities, negotiations serve to end their tendencies to armed rebellions.
"'Yon ho ang ating sinasabi na kailangan titingnan natin ito in a narrative, ang evolution ho ng [isang] revolutionary movement ay hindi napapako sa iisang sandali," she said.
The Philippine Star
