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InPeace Mindanao
Press Release
August 14, 2008
Arroyo wants lasting reign, not lasting peace in Mindanao
The Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao (InPeace) questions and condemns in
the strongest terms President Arroyo's proposal for charter change which
is meant to extend her stay in power beyond 2010, rather than solve the
Moro problem in Mindanao.
The group questions the sincerity of Mrs. Arroyo who said that charter
change will solve the issue of Muslim autonomy in Mindanao. We are rather
persuaded that with Arroyo's past conducts in pushing for cha-cha, that
she is just exploiting this issue to justify its own interest, which is to
create a federal form of government and have Arroyo elected as prime
minister or as head of state.
She wants lasting reign and lasting power, not lasting peace. Arroyo has
clearly used the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) as a
trojan horse to subvert the Senate as a stronghold of the political
opposition and open the floodgates for charter change. Arroyo's peace
rhetorics have been unmasked anew. She has employed duplicity in the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)'s negotiations with
the MILF to cater to her own desire for political perpetuation.
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This proposal for cha-cha
would never bring peace in Mindanao. This is peddled by this same
government that fails its negotiations with the MILF. This would be the
same government that has been engaged in an all-out war policy against the
Moro people. Ultimately, this will be the same government responsible for
aggravating the country into critical level of poverty, economic and
political hardship, due to corruption and repression.
It is a big shame that Arroyo and her cohorts are trampling the noble
aspirations of the Mindanao peoples for just and lasting peace in order to
further her self-interest. We deplore this move by Arroyo, and we call on
our Mindanao legislators to hear the voice of the people in Mindanao: We
want authentic peace, not charter change.
We continue to support the right to self determination of the Bangsamoro
people. The political maneuverings of the Arroyo government has shown that
it will not be the Bangsamoro who will benefit from the windfall of gains
from the peace negotiations. Arroyo has once more trampled upon the
Bangsamoro people's aspiration for genuine autonomy. She will go down in
history as the President who is caught red-handed for undermining the
GRP-MILF peace process to purseu aher interest. #
for Reference
Atty.Beverly Selim Musnia |
