The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chaired by Al-Hajji Murad Ebrahim has assured the various tribes of indigenous people (IP) of Mindanao that their Islamized fellow natives or Moros have no quarrel with them on the issue of their ancestral domain claims.

Lawyer Lanang Ali, most senior MILF peace panel member, made the assurance in response to a clamor of the IP of Mindanao to have a direct participation as a third party in the negotiations between the Moro separatists and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

IP leaders in their five-day meeting from July 26 to 30 in Bukidnon, made the proposal through Datu Migketay Victorino Saway, chair of the Pangadapu Mindanao association.

This could be a result of President Benigno C. Aquino’s State-of-the-Nation Address (SoNA) on July 26 mentioning the Mindanao situation.

“Our view has not changed when it comes to the situation in Mindanao. We will only achieve lasting peace if all stakeholders engage in an honest dialogue: May they be Moro, Lumad or Christian,” said Aquino.

Responding to Saway, Ali said having a separate panel for the IP is easier said than done.

At the same time, the MILF negotiator assured that the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) which was contained in the aborted memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MoA-AD) only has 10 percent of the IP’s claim on their ancestral lands which does not overlap with Moro claims.