Lull in clashes between gov't and MILF forces to continue

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Government and rebel truce monitors and the International Monitoring Team (IMT) will continue with the tight enforcement of all preliminary security agreements covering flashpoint areas in Mindanao despite the improving security climate in far-flung Moro-dominated areas.

This was the consensus reached by the three groups during the 43rd regular meeting of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in General Santos City early this week.

The three parties also held the 22nd government-MILF-IMT tripartite meeting while in General Santos City.

The Malaysian-led IMT, comprised of military officers from Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Libya, and non-uniformed conflict resolution experts from Japan, Norway and the European Union, has been helping enforce since 2003 the government-MILF 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities.

The meetings ended with the reaffirmation by the three parties to continue cooperating in strengthening the enforcement of the ceasefire pact to sustain the momentum of the GPH-MILF talks.

The three parties have acknowledged that security conditions on the ground have indeed improved following the crafting last October 15, 2012 of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro (FAB), which aims to establish an MILF-led new autonomous political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Army Gen. Gilberto Jose Roa, chairman of the GPH ceasefire committee, his MILF counterpart, Said Shiek, and IMT’s representative, Gen. Datuk Abdul Rahim bin Mohd Yusuff, of the Malaysian Royal Armed Forces, gave credit to the cooperation of their respective groups in maintaining peace and order in areas covered by the ceasefire.

The government’s chief negotiator, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, who also attended the meetings in General Santos City, lauded the joint ceasefire committee and the IMT for having succeeded in addressing security concerns in flashpoint areas in Mindanao promptly.

There has been a “zero” encounter between government and MILF forces in Mindanao for more than a year now as a result of the cooperation of local government units, the joint ceasefire committee and the IMT in addressing domestic peace and security issues.

Ferrer said she was elated with outstanding GPH - MILF joint security cooperation for President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim’s joint launching last February 11 of the Sajahatra Bangsamoro program for rebel-held areas in Mindanao.

The program, a convergence of health, socio-economic services and, and livelihood interventions designed to address poverty and underdevelopment in beneficiary areas, was launched Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute in Simuay area in  Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.