KIKO ON PALACE'S DENIAL OF GRP-MILF MOA CANCELLATION: "Is there anyone in charge?"

Following Malacañang's reversal of its earlier announcement that government will no longer sign the controversial GRP-MILF Peacepact, Senate Majority Leader and Independent senator Kiko Pangilinan today questioned Malacañang's unclear stand on the issue.

"The unclear stand of Malacañang is very disturbing. It makes us wonder if there is anyone in charge," Kiko said.

"I hope I am mistaken but the flawed peacepact, the knee-jerk response to call for ChaCha after the public outcry against it, the call to withdraw it and now the denial of any cancellation are all very disturbing indications that what we are witnessing appears to be a headless chicken running amok," Kiko added.

"Malacañang needs to provide direction, not confusion. The uncertainty will only end if somebody truly takes charge. To put it simply, that really should be the job of the President," Kiko said.

"Having said that, government must first bring in a new set of negotiators who are highly respected in both the national and Mindanao communities and who have impeccable credentials. This new set of negotiators should humbly impress upon the MILF leadership that the government through its previous negotiators failed miserably in forging a national consensus on the MOA and that there is no way that the MOA in its present form can be acted upon favorably by Congress," Kiko stressed.

"If the government has to publicly apologize to the MILF leadership for this terrible mistake as a means to restore confidence in the process then so be it. Even the staunchest supporters of this administration in the Senate are vehemently against it. The MILF on the other hand should recognize that to begin with it was the follies of Malacañang and not of the larger Filipino community that brought us to the mess we are in. For the MILF to insist on the signing of a MOA that does not have a broad national consensus behind it will mean failure in the ling run," Kiko ended.