Loren pushes new strategies
to address Mindanao crisis

Senator Loren Legarda yesterday said that the dissolution of the government peace panel that negotiated the botched memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) should not put the issue to rest. "There should be accountability," said Legarda, adding "the buck should stop at the very doorstep of Malacanang.

She pointed out that, rightly or wrongly, the public perception is that the dissolved peace panel is being made a scapegoat by higher-ups.

Future negotiations should be led by no less than the President herself and should be connected to all the executive agencies and local governments playing roles in peace and development in Mindanao.

"Our government needs a new approach to Mindanao, but it should first re-organize our Mindanao policy machinery which should be headed directly by the president," Legarda said.

The re-organization of the said Mindanao policy machinery is but one of the four requisites the government must comply with to immediately get to the bottom of the Mindanao crisis.

She also urged the government to come up with a strong and reliable Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) machineries to assure the security of the people against all those that may threaten or disturb lives and property.

Apart from this, Legarda said the local governments should have ready access to national resources to take care of displaced civilians whenever armed incidents occur and families and communities are forced to evacuate.

Legarda added that the machinery should organize a peace negotiating panel that "talks to all affected parties, not just the insurgent groups, and conducts talks under conditions of continued and uninterrupted implementation of development projects".