MILF wants ranking Cabinet member to head govt panel

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) insisted on the government appointing a full-fledged Cabinet member to head the peace panel that will discuss peace with it. MILF peace panel secretariat head Jun Mantawil said that while they respect Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, all previous chief negotiators had full Cabinet rank. "(Executive) Secretary Eduardo Ermita and (national security adviser) Secretary Norberto Gonzales, who at times acted government chief negotiators, are full-fledged cabinet secretaries," he added in an article posted on the MILF website www.luwaran.net). Other Cabinet members he cited included now Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, former Presidential Management Staff head Silvestre Afable Jr., and Secretary Rodolfo Garcia. He also noted a possible "conflict" in the government peace panel, which includes agrarian reform secretary Nasser Pangandaman. Pangandaman holds the rank of secretary "and therefore senior to Seguis," he said. On the other hand, Mantawil noted that during the early part of the GRP-MILF peace talks, military officials headed the government peace panel. These included Lt. Gen. Fortunato Abat, Maj. Gen. Orlando Soriano, and Maj. Gen. Edgardo Batenga. Other members of the government peace panel include former sectoral representative Ronald Adamat and General Santos Mayor Adelbert Antonino, who the MILF described as "a member of a logging, ranch, and mining family." "This is a very good team and they have a clout that even in their person the MILF has high regards," said Atty. Lanang Ali, a senior member of the MILF Peace Panel. Meanwhile, MILF deputy spokesman Khaled Musa urged the new government peace panel, before they face their counterpart in the MILF, to negotiate first with the Supreme Court. He also urged it to "negotiate" first with Congress, and politicians like Sen. Manuel Roxas II, former Sen. Franklin Drilon, North Cotabato vice governor Emmanuel Piňol, Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz, and Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat. "What guarantee that what we talk and agreed these branches of government and personalities would not ambush us in the finishing line?" Musa asked, referring to last August's blocking of the signing of a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain. - GMANews.TV