Aquino urged to address ancestral domain issue

To address the Mindanao issue, the Aquino administration has to deal with the region’s most central problem — ancestral domain, said Satur Ocampo, former head of the National Democratic Front panel talking peace with the government.

Ocampo expressed his opinion in an interview with GMANews.TV Friday, a day after President Benigno Aquino III announced his choice, Marvic Leonen, for the post of chief government negotiator with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Leonen, dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law, as well as a lawyer and activist, may fit the role of chief negotiator but he might only echo existing government policies, Ocampo said.

"The only problem here is he cannot initiate an independent position different from what the President may define. Ang limitation ng isang chief negotiator is that implementor lamang siya nung policy decision ng principal which is the President," Ocampo explained.

Ocampo, a journalist and former representative of the party-list group Bayan Muna, said he is not aware of Leonen’s position on the issue of the ancestral domain, the bone of contention in the MILF-GRP peace negotiations.

"From my point of view it is important that the ancestral domain issue shall be solved satisfactorily to both parties," he said.

Malacanang announced on Thursday the appointment of Leonen as the head of the government panel in the resumption of peace talks with the MILF.

In a press statement, President Aquino said Leonen understands the country's history, different cultures, and aspirations.

Ocampo, however, said what the government needs to do is to be flexible, and even willing to amend the 1987 Constitution, if that would help achieve a satisfactory settlement of the “Bangsamoro issues."

Bangsamoro or Moroland, is the homeland of the Moro people, the largest non-Christian group in the country, comprising about five to 10 percent of the total Philippine population.
It was originally home to the Muslim sultanates of Mindanao which resisted Spanish colonial rule (1521 to 1898), and were not fully integrated with the rest of the islands.

However, during the American occupation of the islands (1898 to 1946), Bangsamoro was slowly integrated into the rest of the country.

In 1990, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created to act as a homeland for Moros. At present, the ARMM includes the provinces of Sulu, Basilan (excluding Isabela City), Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, and Maguindanao (excluding Cotabato).

The Arroyo administration’s peace efforts with the MILF were jeopardized in late 2008 when the Supreme Court barred the signing of — and eventually ruled as unconstitutional — a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain between the government and the MILF expanding the ARMM.

Source: GmaNews