Monday, October 15, 2012
Akhirnya....
Pejuang Moro meraikan Perjanjian Damai
Philippines, Muslim rebels sign peace pact
Posted on 15 October 2012 - 04:23pm
Last updated on 15 October 2012 - 05:22pm
Last updated on 15 October 2012 - 05:22pm
MANILA (Oct 15, 2012):
Muslim rebels waging a four-decade insurgency in the Philippines signed
a historic pact with the government on Monday to end the conflict, but
both sides warned the road to peace had only just begun.
President
Benigno Aquino and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad
Ebrahim witnessed the signing of the accord, which aims for a final
peace pact by 2016, in a landmark ceremony at the presidential palace in
Manila.
"I come in
peace and to forge a partnership of peace on the basis of the framework
agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government," Ebrahim said
in a speech at the palace just ahead of the signing.
"We extend the hand of friendship and partnership to the president and Filipino people".
President
Benigno Aquino, who has driven the process since assuming office in
2010, also hailed the agreement as a chance to "finally achieve genuine,
lasting peace".
Ebrahim became
the first MILF chief to visit the presidential palace, signifying the
optimism from both sides about finally ending a conflict that has
claimed 150,000 lives and the priority Aquino has put on achieving
peace.
Under the plan,
the 12,000-strong MILF would give up its quest for an independent
homeland in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao in return for
significant power and wealth sharing in a new autonomous region there.
However the
MILF's leadership, the government and independent observers have also
all warned the path towards peace remains littered with obstacles, and
that Monday's signing does not guarantee an end to the conflict.
"As the saying
goes, the devil is in the details. Much work remains to be done in order
to fully reap the fruits of this framework agreement," Aquino said in
his speech just before the signing by both sides' chief negotiators.
Ebrahim's deputy for political affairs, Ghazali Jaafar, expressed similar caution.
"We feel
honoured to be welcomed in Manila, but I must stress this is just the
beginning of the peace journey," Jaafar told AFP on Sunday before flying
to the nation's capital.
Muslim rebel
groups have been fighting since the 1970s for full independence or
autonomy in Mindanao, which they consider their ancestral homeland from
before Spanish Christian colonisation of the country began in the 1500s.
The estimated
four to nine million Muslims are now a minority in Mindanao after years
of Catholic immigration, but they remain a majority in some areas.
Muslims would be a majority in the planned new autonomous region.
The conflict
has left huge areas of Mindanao, a resource-rich and fertile farming
region covering the southern third of the Philippines, in deep poverty.
It has also led
to the proliferation of unlicensed guns and political warlords who
battle over fiefdoms, while smaller but more militant Islamic separatist
groups have been able to create strongholds in lawless areas.
The MILF is the
biggest and most important remaining rebel group, after the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF) signed a peace pact with the government
in 1996.
That peace pact
led to an autonomous region in Mindanao but Aquino described it last
week as a "failed experiment" because of massive corruption and
worsening poverty there.
The planned new autonomous region would replace the old one.
Some of the
MNLF's leaders have voiced anger at seeing their powerbase dissolve, and
have warned they may be prepared to take up arms again.
Fresh attacks
by the MNLF or small Islamic groups who still want independence are
among the potential obstacles to the peace process.
Another is
potential opposition from Catholic politicians and business leaders. The
nation's parliament, dominated by Catholics, will have to approve the
laws of the new autonomous region.
However experts
have said that Aquino, who is one of the most popular presidents in the
country's history, may be able to convince the country's Catholic
majority to support the plan.
The
two sides have set 2016 as a deadline because that is when Aquino is
required by the constitution to stand down after serving a single
six-year term.- AFP
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