MILF chides gov for demanding copy of ancestral domain deal

MANILA, Philippines - The deputy spokesman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is dissuading North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol from asking the Supreme Court to release the details of the ancestral domain deal that will be signed by the MILF and the government. MILF's Khaled Musa said Piñol should just wait for the formal signing of the pact instead of wasting his time and the taxpayers' money in asking the high court to release a copy of the deal that will create an ancestral homeland for 3 million Muslims in Mindanao, and reportedly expand the territory of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) under the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. "It is a waste of people's money and effort that you go to the Supreme Court in Manila just to compel the government to divulge the content of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain to you. We will give you a copy as soon as it is signed. Just don't be in haste," Musa said in a statement on the MILF website (www.luwaran.com). Piñol will reportedly file a petition asking the Supreme Court to compel the government to divulge to the public the provisions of the MILF's proposed deal with the government. Musa recalled that Piñol was very close to the Moros before and was even a bosom buddy of the late Pagalungan Mayor Jun Matalam and banana businessman Toto Paglas. He claimed that the vice governor's hatred for the Moros started when Piñol was rejected by the parents of a Moro woman whom he wanted to marry. An earlier report said Piñol claimed that the agreement contained a provision setting a schedule for holding a plebiscite for the inclusion of other areas in the expanded ARMM. Government and MILF peace negotiators had concluded their talks on ancestral domain on July 16 in Kuala Lumpur after a marathon deal that lasted for three years and seven months. After this issue, the two parties would start discussion on the political solution to the centuries-old Bangsamoro problem. - GMANews.TV