QUEZON CITY (MindaNews/09 August) — Critics have derided the August 4 meeting of President Noynoy Aquino and Moro Islamic Liberation Front chair Ebrahim Murad as hasty, lacking in transparency, and ill-advised. Some even raised fears of a ‘secret deal’ and nitpicked on the diplomatic implications.
Perhaps the element of surprise – that it was pulled off with the mass media unaware – explains part of this frustration of commentators who only saw the tail end but not the thorough discussions that went into the decision and the preparations that were done once the offer to meet with Murad was processed with the other party and the plan was set in motion.
The chair of our negotiating panel, Marvic Leonen, already gave the lowdown in countless press interviews. The MILF’s statement posted on their website (www.luwaran.cm) even narrated the sequence of events. Both parties have recounted that in our panel meeting last 27 June where we were supposed to present government’s proposal, we instead received the MILF’s effuse appreciation of PNOY’s offer, and discussed the talking points, venue and other practical details of the planned event.
Mindanao as venue was discounted for security reasons. The two parties, including the President, agreed on Japan, as the nearest and also most involved in the peace process among the four member-countries of the International Contact Group. The GPH panel chair thus forwarded the request to Minister Hitoshi Ozawa. The good minister was closing his two-year stint in the country and had to forego his vacation to work out the details with his government. Certainly, Japan’s tight gun control eased the concerns of the President’s security group.
Confidentiality
Should all these steps have been broadcasted to the public?
If they were, the meeting could not have happened as smoothly as it did. As it were, no untoward incident imperiled the lives of anyone in the delegation. The hotel staff, Japan’s and our security personnel were totally discreet. No haughty, uninformed commentator had the chance to disparage the President’s sincere intention and dampen the mood. No mob besieged the delegations before, during or after the brief meet-and-greet of the two parties in the second -floor function room of Crowne Plaza ANA Hotel in Narita, and the longer one-on-one in the adjoining smaller room. Throughout, it was a quiet, pleasant engagement without posturing on either side.
Was there any breach in diplomacy?
Those raising this issue are confusing their premises and distorting their conclusions.