President Arroyo has announced the government is moving to resume soon peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) despite previous setbacks.

At the 37th general assembly of the Bishops-Ulama Conference in Davao City last Thursday, the President said her government is committed to return to the negotiating table while upholding the country’s sovereignty, integrity of national territory and constitution in the peace process.

“We are hopeful that the formal resumption of the GRP-MILF Peace Talks is imminent," she said in her remarks.

The President tackled the prospects of the peace process in Mindanao as she received the results of the Mindanao-wide consultations and dialogues commissioned by the Bishops-Ulama Conference. Both the government and MILF panels are waiting for Malaysia to set the date of the peace talks.

Mrs. Arroyo said the government will continue to hold dialogues with religious leaders and other stakeholders in Mindanao on how to advance the peace process with the Muslim separatist group.

She said chief government negotiator Rafael Seguis came back recently from Malaysia where the two panels agreed to create the International Contact Group peace process and also the Agreement on the Civilian Protection Component of the International Monitoring Team.

"I have already directed Ambassador Seguis to conduct massive consultations and dialogues with our people, especially in Mindanao. I am very glad of the output of your consultations so that what he brings to the negotiations will be truly reflective of the people’s will,” the President said.

In the same forum, the President also introduced to the religious leaders new Presidential adviser on the peace process Annabelle Abaya. Abaya, a member of the government panel negotiating peace with the communist rebels, replaced former police chief Avelino Razon Jr. who resigned to run for mayor in Manila.

In the past few months, the President cited a number of breakthroughs in the peace process in Mindanao, including the creation of an international contact group as well as the ceasefire monitoring team.

”We are also happy that to date, the respective declarations of the GRP and MILF of suspension of military offensive operations continue to hold firmly,” she added.

She also thanked the Bishops-Ulama group led by Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla for its “substantive” proposals to advance the peace process, which she said would be taken into consideration by the government peace panel.