OFFBEAT MAIL

MILF fighters on foot patrol in Mindanao. Despite the call of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to re-think its position concerning the inking of peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Philippine government is hell bent on pursuing the peace plan  with the MILF early next month. Already the third framework on power-sharing had been signed in Malaysia this week. MNLF vice chair Hashim Habib told media that the proposed peace pact is a violation of  the Tripoli Agreement which created theAutonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) after then President Fidel V. Ramos and MNLF chairman Nur Misuari agreed to ink the peace deal. As this developed, MILF vice-chair Ghadzali Jaafar has expressed elation over the trust that the government put on the MILF, which in effect, could once and for all, establish a Bangsamoro sub-state in Mindanao. Once approved, the MILF can pursue political and economic developments which could trickle down for th...

MILF chair Murad Ebrahim (center). This is my reaction to Mr. Amando Doronila's column "Bangsamoro framework: The inside story", which appeared at the www.inquirer.net, on Oct. 29. One of the particular paragraphs that caught my attention focused on: “The MILF wanted to have full jurisdiction [over] the judicial system, including banks, budgeting, and creation of taxes and revenues, as well as full control over policing and internal security,” the paper said. The paper being referred to above is titled “Forging a Peace Settlement for the Bangsamoro: Compromises and Challenges,” a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer. It was presented by professor Miriam Coronel Ferrer of the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines, at the recent 2012 Philippines Update Conference at Australian National University in Canberra. Ferrer is a member of the Philippine negotiating panel in the talks with the MILF. I don't want to sound like a...