January 17, 2010 - A member of the MILF peace panel reminded its counterpart in the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) that consulting people like Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat, North Cotabato Vice Mayor Emmanuel Piñol, and Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz will not always result in getting support for the peace policy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“At no time these people will ever support the peace process in Mindanao, which they consider as a threat to their vested interests in Mindanao,” said a member of the MILF peace panel, who requested not be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter.

“Consultation will always result in two views, positive and negative, but the final decision in which way to go is always the prerogative of those in power. It is here that decisiveness and political come into full play.”

He also reminded his counterpart in the government not to be hasty in disclosing the results of their so-called consultation so as not to create unnecessary intrigues and confusion in the peace process.

Short of naming Dr. Ronald Adamat, a member of the GRP Peace Panel and representing the indigenous peoples in Mindanao, he said the hasty release of the so-called results of his recent consultation in Zamboanga City is not much the problem of the MILF but is adverse to the declaration of the Arroyo dispensation that peace agreement is still possible within her remaining term of office.

President Arroyo wants the peace pact with the MILF to be part of her administration’s legacy, like former President Fidel Ramos did with the peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front in 1996.

“Does this mean Adamat is not toeing the official line of her principal in Malacañang Palace?

He disclosed that it is not the MILF which said that this peace pact is still possible within this short of time, but the government through Ambassador Rafael Seguis during one of the special meetings in Kuala Lumpur in July 2009,” the MILF peace panel member clarified.

“We just adopted an open mind to the GRP’s view; if the peace pact is signed before June 30, so much the better; if not, then at least, the MILF will not be viewed as obstacle to peace-making,” he added.

Government peace panel member Ronald Adamat said it would be difficult to have a peace agreement signed between the government and the MILF before President Arroyo’s term ends on June 30 because most Mindanao provinces, even those grouped under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), are against the proposal of the MILF to expand autonomy in the South.