EDITORIAL - Will the ceasefire hold this time?

On the eve of the approval of implementing guidelines for the latest ceasefire agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Muslim separatists ambushed government soldiers in Pikit, North Cotabato. The ambush left Army 1Lt. Fermori Ogoc dead and four other Army soldiers wounded. While the rebels were staging the ambush, their deputy chief for political affairs Murad Ibrahim was working out the implementing guidelines for the ceasefire with representatives of the Philippine go-vernment in Malaysia. The guidelines were approved yesterday in the presence of President Arroyo, who is in Malaysia for a state visit, paving the way for a truce.

The ambush did not violate the agreement, but it does not encourage optimism in the prospects for peace with the MILF. The ceasefire pact forged on June 20 in Tripoli, Libya is not the first between the government and the Muslim separatists. Since the Ramos administration, numerous ceasefires have been forged between the government and the MILF, only to be broken. The truce violations continued during the Estrada administration, which decided that war was a better option in dealing with the separatist problem. Last year government troops drove the rebels out of their encampments in Mindanao, including their biggest base, Camp Abubakar. Lieutenant Ogoc won a Gold Cross for the capture of the MILF’s Camp Rajah Muda.

Abandoning the war policy, President Arroyo decided to give peace yet another chance, even if the MILF had been greatly weakened by the military offensive last year. The initial result of the revival of the peace talks with the MILF is the ceasefire agreement – the first under the Arroyo administration. Will the ceasefire hold this time?

With the talks being held under the aegis of Islamic countries, there are those who see better prospects for a peace agreement. Others, however, have expressed concern about the conditions for peace, particularly when predominantly Christian communities will be affected. Before any agreement is signed, the government must make sure it won’t end up paying too steep a price for peace.