PEACE TREATY MUST NOT COMPROMISE
PHILIPPINE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY - LOREN

Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday warned the government not to compromise Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity in pursuing the forging of a new peace treaty with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Senator Legarda issued the warning even as she described the administration as "acting like a spurned suitor" in chasing after the MILF for renewed negotiations on a new peace treaty after the draft Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was rejected as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

She also asked, "Whatever happened to giving justice to the victims of the attacks by Splinter groups of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Central Mindanao a few months back?", referring to the attacks launched by groups led by Commander Umbra Kato after the MOA-AD was junked by the Supreme Court.

"By all means, the peace process must continue," said Loren, "But any peace talk must be based on good faith and justice, especially for the victims of the MILF attacks."

The MOA-AD set to be signed last August 5 by the Philippine government and the MILF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia until it was strongly opposed by a wide sector of Philippine society, including members of Congress, and declared illegal by the SC.

Loren reiterated that any peace agreement to be forged by the government with the MILF must be the result of consultations among all parties concerned, and that it must not compromise the integrity of Philippine sovereignty and territory.

"The government must show decisiveness and not cave in to MILF demands to resurrect the MOA-AD," the senator, stressed.

"In whatever form the new peace treaty may take, it will not be acceptable to the majority of the Filipino people if it compromises Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity. We cannot allow our nation to be broken up into pieces," she said.

Loren pressed the government to work on bringing before the bar of justice those behind the attacks in several Mindanao towns.

On moves by the administration to resurrect charter-change initiatives, Loren said Filipinos can see through the ploy to extend the term of Malacanang's present tenant beyond 2010.

"Any cha-cha move, whether by constitutional convention as proposed in a Senate bill or by the much-maligned constitutional assembly, will not prosper if it will benefit the incumbent administration," she said.

"Filipinos have become too politically savvy to fall for a scheme like that," she declared.