New violence in Philippines sparks terrorism fears

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By Simon Roughneen

SINGAPORE | The southern Philippines, long considered a safe haven for al Qaeda affiliates, has relapsed into violence after a U.S.-backed peace deal between the government and a rebel Islamic militant group collapsed.

The renewal of the decades-old conflict has prompted fears that the Muslims of the island of Mindanao, the Bangsamoro or "Moros," could align with extremists and the area could become a breeding ground for international terror groups.

"The religious and cultural affinities Moros share with the Islamic world could provide new entree for extremist elements willing to use violence in pursuit of their, if not wholly Moro, goals," said former U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines G. Eugene Martin.

Since August, when the country's Supreme Court rejected the peace deal as unconstitutional, attacks by rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) - followed by counterattacks by the Philippine army - have displaced nearly half a million people and left dozens dead. Eight Moro insurgents and six soldiers have died in recent weeks.

The Malaysian-brokered peace agreement, called the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, was signed by the Philippine government and the MILF. It would have given control of about 700 additional towns and villages on Mindanao to the Moros, southern Filipino Muslims who have limited self-government in the country's southern islands, which lie close to Indonesia and Malaysia.

However, the Philippine Supreme Court saw the agreement as violating the territorial integrity of the Philippines and compounding secession fears. The court, on a vote of 8-7, labeled the agreement a violation of the constitution.

"The furtive process by which the [deal] was designed and crafted runs contrary to and in excess of the legal authority, and amounts to a whimsical, capricious, oppressive, arbitrary and despotic exercise thereof," the court said in its ruling.

After the announcement, MILF spokesman Mohagher Iqbal lamented the ruling, saying it would "feed those who oppose the peace talks" within the organization.

Jun Muntawil, a member of the Moro negotiating team, told The Washington Times that the court decision "adds to age-old mistrust between the Filipino people and the Bangsamoro people."

"The neocolonial government is not worth talking to, for it always betrayed its commitment to the peace process," he said.