Philippine Government (GRP) rejects MILF land demand

The Philippine government on Wednesday rejected demands by the MILF for control over vast swaths of land as peace talks remained at a standstill.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita conceded that the talks with the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) “are at a stalemate right now on the issue of territory.”

Ermita, speaking on the sidelines of a counterterrorism forum in Manila, said the government simply could not sign an agreement giving up whole villages to the MILF unless those villages were to agree to the move in a plebiscite.

“We will stand pat on our position. We will follow the constitutional processes,” said Ermita.

The MILF’s chief negotiator, Mohager Iqbal, said Wednesday that government negotiators had promised to come up with a new proposal by week’s end that could break the impasse.

If the MILF finds the government proposal acceptable, then talks could resume in Kuala Lumpur, he said.

Negotiations stalled earlier this month due to the MILF demand that 1,000 parcels of land in Mindanao and Sulu be set aside as “ancestral domain” under special control of the minority Muslims.

Manila has said it can give only 600 parcels, and that such a move would be subject to congressional approval.

MILF leaders have threatened that fighting could break out again if this impasse was not resolved soon.

But Ermita dismissed the threat: “They think they can pressure the government. They cannot. We have the armed forces and the police.”

He expressed hope that the three-year ceasefire between the MILF and the government would hold, adding that both the Malaysian government and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which have fostered the peace negotiations, are encouraging both sides to continue the talks.

But when asked when the talks would resume, Ermita could only say, “When we are able to go over the hump.”

The 12,000-strong MILF has been waging a 28-year separatist rebellion in the southern tip of this largely Christian nation. More than 50,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

President Arroyo opened negotiations with the group in 2001, and two years later signed a ceasefire in exchange for the MILF publicly disowning links with extremist groups like the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah network.

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