Useless peace talks FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 06/22/2010

Useless peace talks

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 06/22/2010 Talking peace with insurgents hardly brings about any peace or peace agreements. What talking peace does, between insurgents and the government, is merely to provide government and its military — as well as the insurgents — some breathing space. This peace talks move is always being brought up by every new government, but ends up with no peace agreement in the horizon, especially when the government is already on the way out. The reason for peace talks not getting anywhere is that the demands of the insurgents cannot be met constitutionally by a government operating under constitutional rules. Take the case of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Arroyo government’s peace talks, where much was promised by Gloria upon attaining power. The MILF demanded a sub-state, in reality, an independent Islamic state within the Republic of the Philippines, and getting a large slice of the Republic’s territories, a demand which goes against the constitutional grain. Gloria was ready to give the MILF all it demanded, even after having already given the rebels a piece of the territory to control. No agreement was possible, as the high court ruled that this was unconstitutional. But, except for sporadic firefights between rebels and government troops, there was some kind of ceasefire during Gloria’s nine-year stay in Malacañang. Similarly, there were peace talks between the communists and the Arroyo government, but these talks too, collapsed, mainly because the demands were pretty steep. Still, it was during these so-called peace talks with the Reds that some of the communists in self-exile, returned to the country on safe passes, after which, they scurried back to their abodes in Europe, with the peace talks scuttled and government forces fighting it out with the rebels.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100622com2.html

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