PULONG BAYAN WITH SECRETARY JESUS DUREZA IN LOS ANGELES  

23 August 2007 – Philippine Consul General to Los Angeles Mary Jo Bernardo Aragon reported to the Department that the Consulate held a well-received Pulong Bayan with Secretary Jesus Dureza, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, on 17 August 2007 at the Consulate’s Community Hall.  

Secretary Dureza recalled the recent beheading of ten Philippine Marines in Basilan as among the complications to the peace process, but clarified that it was perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf rebels and not the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) nor the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with whom the GRP is engaged in peace negotiations.  He noted the differences in opinion and perception among Filipinos on how best to deal with the ambush and beheadings.  Those from outside Mindanao are calling for an all-out offensive while Mindanaoans do not think that a military solution is the answer nor want to have the gains from the on-going peace process squandered.  He cited the full-scale offensive against rebellious forces in 2000 under the Estrada Administration which succeeded in over-running the rebel camps but failed to defeat the rebels.  One reason he cited for the inadequacy of a military offensive is the success of rebels in embedding themselves in local communities.  His office, therefore, is espousing a more creative, calibrated action for Mindanao .  

Secretary Dureza said that the peace negotiations with the MILF will resume in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia .  On the other hand, the negotiations with the CPP-NDF has stalled due to the condition set by the group for delisting from the US’s and EU’s respective terrorist organizations list, over which GRP has no jurisdiction.  

He admitted that the biggest challenge remains the issue of extra-judicial killings, which groups mistakenly attribute to the government.  He maintains that the situation has improved recently with the government’s determined efforts to address this issue.  

On fears raised against the Human Security Act, Secretary Dureza advised critics to read the Act first to find out for themselves the numerous safeguards written into the law.  

He concluded the Pulong Bayan by explaining the different stages of the peace process being undertaken by his office, namely peacekeeping, conflict-prevention, and peace-building, which encompass rebuilding relationships among Christians and Muslims in Mindanao that were eroded by years of conflict.  

/Gary

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