Bangsamoros hold rallies in many parts of Mindanao to demand immediate resumption of GRP-MILF peace talks

Jun 29, '08 6:57 AM
for everyone
source: http://zamboangasouthwall.blogspot.com/

Thousands of Bangsamoros held simultaneous rallies in various parts of Mindanao on Saturday and called for immediate resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Dubbed as "Mass Rally for Peace," they called the government to respect and sign with sincerity the previously agreed consensus points on ancestral domain and to cancel the August 11 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao elections.

The rallyists led by the Mindanao Alliance for Peace (MAP) flocked in the main plazas of the cities of Cotabato, Tacurong, General Santos, Isabela, Basilan, Pagadian, and the municipalities of Jolo, Sulu, and Pikit in North Cotabato.

They criticized Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat for rejecting their application for a permit to hold a peace rally in the city.

Zamboanga was a former Muslim province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, but many of its original inhabitants were forced out by Christian settlers.

The rallyists also said government troops prevented about a thousand colleagues on board six trucks from going to General Santos City from North Cotabato.

Bobby Benito, MAP spokesman, said they also urged to maintain and sustain the ceasefire as a vehicle leading to ink the long awaited final and meaningful agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government.

During the rally in Cotabato City that was attended by representatives from the MNLF, indigenous peoples, and Bangsamoro women group, the alliance issued a manifesto calling the GRP and the MILF to immediately resume the peace negotiations.

The manifesto calls on both parties to honor the consensus points on ancestral domain that they have already agreed upon. They see the immediate resumption of the peace talks as the only way to stop the war that may break out once again.

Peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF were stalled since last year over the issue of the ancestral domain, which the moro rebels have been demanding from the Arroyo regime.

The alliance for peace further calls on the government to defer the election in the ARMM, describing the upcoming regional polls in the autonomous region as a hindrance in the GRP-MILF peace talks.

"Clearly holding the ARMM elections is a sign that the government is not sincere it its peace negotiations with the MILF. We will all be the victims when war erupts," the group said.

"We call on every Bangsamoro people and on every peace-loving individual for that matter to unite with us and let our voices be heard and we want peace now for we have been suffering the war for so long."

"Finally, we support, respect and uphold the legitimate struggle of the Bangsamor people for freedom and the right to self determination," the group concluded. (HG)