On  Thursday, September 2, 2009, marks the 13th anniversary of the final peace agreement signed in 1996 by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front, but its full implementation remains hanging.

This has prompted Fr. Eliseo Mercado, of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, an expert on the Mindanao peace processes including those between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), to urge the GRP, the MNLF and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to implement the provisions of the FPA.

"I call on GRP, MNLF and OIC to stop all the wrangling. GRP should implement immediately all the remaining provisions, especially on the reconstruction of the war-affected communities," said Mercado.

While in Libya, President Arroyo issued a statement expressing confidence in the prospects of forging peace settlements with Muslim separatists and local communist rebels in Mindanao despite recent setbacks.

Although some rogue MILF rebels were involved in the recent killing of 23 soldiers in Basilan, the President said the government will push ahead with resumption of the peace talks with the MILF under the auspices of Malaysia.

Mrs. Arroyo reaffirmed that the government would uphold the supremacy of the national peace agenda after decades of armed conflict that has derailed the country’s progress.

“I welcome the observance of the Peace Month with a happy note regarding the progress of our peace process,” she said in a message issued from Libya on the launch of the National Peace Consciousness Month at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

“Peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are on track while our negotiations with the CPP-NPA-NDF have suffered some kinks but hopefully can be ironed out. These are indeed breakthroughs in our determined efforts to achieve a just and enduring peace for all Filipinos,” she said.

Meantime, Undersecretary Nabil Tan of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process cited GRP's commitment towards the FPA's full implementation, which is subject to review by the influential OIC.

"We observe the 13th year today of the signing of the GRP-MILF peace accord with a strong commitment to its full implementation even as our legal panels still have to hurdle some challenges that, hopefully, can be clarified and can result in a strengthened autonomy," he said.

OPAPP launched the 2009 National Peace Consciousness Month Monday with Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as keynote speaker.

The OIC under Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanuglo convened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the first session of the tripartite meeting -- GRP, MNLF, OIC -- in 2007; the second in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2008; and the third in Pasay City in March 2009 for the review of the FPA.

The OIC's Ministerial Committee of Eight, now the Peace Committee for Southern Philippines (PCSP) chaired by Indonesia, has reported to the pan-Islamic body that Phase I of the FPA was fully implemented and Phase 2's implementation is still ongoing.

Prof. Nurullaji "Nur" Misuari, MNLF founding chairman, and Ambassador Manuel Yan signed the FPA in Malacanang on September 2, 1996, witnessed by President Fidel V. Ramos and foreign Muslim leaders as well as other foreign dignitaries.

At the same time, Presidential adviser on the peace process Avelino Razon Jr. said they are just awaiting word from Malaysia, which brokers the negotiations between the GRP and the MILF, regarding jumpstarting the peace talks.

“We hope it (conflict) will end soon and peace will reign in Mindanao, which is our potential breadbasket and source of natural resources,” he said.

Meanwhile, the MILF, a breakaway group of the MNLF in 1977 and now the biggest Moro revolutionary organization in the country, defended Malaysia from those who want the country replaced from facilitating the GRP-MILF peace negotiations.

“Why fault a country which has shown exceptional impartiality and skills in facilitating these talks?” an MILF leader said on www.luwaran.net.

He stressed that Malaysia only came in when President Arroyo asked Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 2001 to facilitate the peace talks after it collapsed in the 2000 all-out war.