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Philippines Search For Peace Negotiator

DW StaffJune 20, 2007

A Roman Catholic priest has rejected an offer to be the Philippine government’s chief negotiator in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), after the rebels criticised him on several grounds. The development follow the sudden resignation at the weekend of the government’s existing negotiator without explanation.

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The Muslim minority in the predominantly Catholic nation claim Mindanao in the south as their ancestral home
The Muslim minority in the predominantly Catholic nation claim Mindanao in the south as their ancestral homeImage: AP

The Roman Catholic priest Eliseo Mercado, who was announced as lead negotiator on Saturday, has been close to the peace movement for a long time.

He is a former president of the Catholic-run Notre Dame University on Mindanao, and served as an independent cease-fire monitor three years ago.

"The MILF doesn't want me to be partisan and work with the government," explained Mercado. "But I should be working above the government and the MILF and help in the peace process by advising both".

Broken procedures

The MILF's chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the reasons for his group’s objections to Mercado's appointment had been listed in a letter sent to Malaysia, which is facilitating the talks.

He would not reveal the contents. However, he did say the government had violated procedures when it unilaterally announced the new negotiator without notifying the Malaysian inter-mediator, or the MILF:

"What is important is that whatever the choice of the other party, it should be communicated first to the other party. Because the discretion to select a negotiator is not an absolute discretion, it has something to do with the other side of the equation," Iqbal said.

Earlier, the MILF had given a different explanation, saying that to name Mercado meant to downgrade the peace process because was not a cabinet member like the previous negotiator, and had less political clout -- the government had later offered Mercado cabinet status.

Sudden resignation

The crisis all started at the weekend when Silvestre Afable, who had served as chief government negotiator since 2003, suddenly resigned. He gave no explanation, but reports indicated he was tired of resistance from hard-liners in President Gloria Arroyo’s cabinet.

"There will be no continuity in what Afable has already started," said a disappointed Iqbal. "Afable has already earned the trust and confidence of the MILF peace panel because he is a man who'll say yes if he can deliver, and no if he can't."

The Philippines is a predominantly Roman Catholic nation, but there is a concentration of Muslims in the south. Muslims claim the Mindanao region as their ancestral home. Much of the area came under the control of Christian settlers last century.

The peace talks are crucial to the Philippine government which is trying to end a conflict with Muslim guerrillas that has been going on for over three decades and has claimed 120,000 lives.