MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar (left) chats with General Zulkifli, the head of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team, during the Bangsamoro general assembly in Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on May last year.

MILF ready to assume governance of Bangsamoro homeland, says Jaafar

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is ready to assume governance of its ancestral homeland once peace pact is forged with the Philippine government, MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar said on Wednesday.

Jaafar, former head of the MILF’s peace negotiating panel, issued the statement in the wake of criticism that they are not capable of assuming self-governance.

“Our people were used to governance before and there is no reason why we cannot govern perfectly well,” Jaafar said, adding that right now they are empowering their people to be more prepared to assume the reins of governance.

In May last year, government chief negotiator Silvestre Afable, Jr. told the general assembly of the MILF in Sultan Kudarat that the Arroyo administration is ready to give the Bangsamoro people whatever they want as long as it is not independence.

MILF welcomed Afable’s statement, however it warned it would not negotiate on the basis of autonomy, citing the case of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which failed to implement a genuine and full autonomy to the Bangsamoro people.

Earlier, the peace panels had agreed on the set up of a government for the Bangsamoro people during the discussions on the strand of governance with a defined territory and resources of the ancestral domain aspect of the Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001.

Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF Peace Panel Secretariat, said the form and structure of governance would be contained in a comprehensive pact.

He said the government has proposed for a federal state for the Bangsamoro people, but the MILF never munched a word rejecting or accepting the offer.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the informal peace talks have ended without settling issues of territory, or jurisdiction of Muslim land.

Sources said the negotiators from the government and MILF had been unable to reach agreement.

It said the talks could resume early in April, when both sides will try again to break the deadlock and fix a date for the signing of an agreement on ancestral domain, a key part of the peace process.

The Philippine government said resumption of informal talks made it more likely a final pact could be reached to end the insurgency that has killed more than 100,000 people and stunted growth on Mindanao.

The two sides were meant to meet in Malaysia on March 5 to 7 but the alleged plot last month to oust President Arroyo and her declaration of a week of emergency rule, which ended on March 3, delayed the talks.

The conclusion of informal discussions would pave the way for the first formal talks in three years. Neighboring Malaysia has hosted the peace talks since 2001.

The two sides hope to sign a landmark peace deal by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on September 16. (ZS)