RP seeks observer status in OIC

The Philippines has formally applied for a permanent observer status in the influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople, who heads the Philippine delegation as a guest in the 30th Islamic Conference for Foreign Ministers in Tehran, Iran, filed the application the other day.

Ople is the first non-Islamic foreign minister invited to attend the exclusive OIC conference in Iran.

The application was supported by a resolution issued by Indonesia and the Moro National Liberation Front, particularly by MNLF chairman Parouk Hussin, governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Hussin is also attending the conference.

Indonesia, chairman of the OIC’s Committee of the Eight, is tasked by the OIC to oversee the implementation of the peace agreement signed between the Philippine government and the MNLF in 1996.

The MNLF holds an observer status at the OIC, which recognizes the group as the sole representative of the Bangsamoro people.

Indonesia will formally endorse the Philippines’ application for final approval to the OIC summit next October in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which will chair and host the summit.

Ople, in a statement from Tehran, said he is optimistic that their application will be approved by the OIC.

"The Philippines’ admission to the OIC as an observer state will open new vistas of opportunity for enriching contacts with the entire, universal Islamic world in terms of national security, economic cooperation and cultural interchange," he said.

Ople added, "This will be an important milestone in our diplomatic history."

Though the 57-member OIC’s charter states that only countries with mostly Muslim populations may be accepted as members, Ople said the Philippines applied for observer status since it has a substantial Islamic population scattered all over the country and not just in Muslim Mindanao.

Ople added that the government has substantially complied with its obligations to the MNLF under the 1996 peace agreement. The OIC helped mediate the talks preceding the signing of the agreement.

Meanwhile, Ople told the OIC of the government’s grievances against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He informed the foreign ministers attending the conference that the government is prepared to offer the MILF a permanent ceasefire and a final peace agreement but "their sincerity is still subject to proof."

Ople reiterated his calls for the MILF to stop all attacks on civilian communities, sabotage of public installations, and turn over criminals from within their ranks.

"If the MILF leaders prove sincere, they will be rewarded with a just and generous peace," he said.