US embassy cable - 05MANILA1748

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 001748 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/PMBS, INR/EAP, USIP - SOLOMON 
NSC FOR GREEN 
SEOUL FOR ERIC JOHN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2015 
TAGS: PINS, PTER, PREL, MY, RP 
SUBJECT: MILF AND ANCESTRAL DOMAIN: A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK 
 
REF: MANILA 1456 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Joseph Saus 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  The upcoming GRP-MILF "exploratory talks" 
will tackle what is arguably the most difficult and 
contentious aspect of the conflict in Mindanao -- ancestral 
domain and proprietary land claims.  MILF interlocutors 
appear hopeful there is some prospect further to flesh out 
some of the finer details of the issue.  A key MILF concern 
is that any agreed-upon ancestral domain framework will go 
unimplemented because of lack of budgetary resources and/or 
GRP political will.  Representatives of indigenous peoples 
(IP) on the MILF technical committee also harbor suspicions 
that the dominant Maguindanaoan tribe may not have others' 
interests at heart.  MILF negotiating parameters make 
explicit that the existing Autonomous Region In Muslim 
Mindanao (ARMM) will form the core of any future 
MILF-administered "Bangsamoro homeland."  End Summary. 
 
Talks Are On 
------------ 
 
2.  (C) The 12 person MILF technical committee will be in 
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for talks with its GRP counterpart and 
Malaysian facilitators (as third-party host) April 18-20. 
The parties will discuss the contentious issue of ancestral 
domain and proprietary land rights in the framework of the 
GRP-MILF peace process.  While the talks remain technical in 
nature and are labeled as the "seventh exploratory talks" 
rather than the beginning of formal peace talks, peace panel 
members of both parties are expected to attend, including 
Silvestre Afable, the head of the GRP panel, who has 
repeatedly indicated to emboffs that the GRP was prepared to 
be "generous" on the issue of ancestral domain and mineral 
rights.  In a recent conversation with Pol/C, however, Afable 
dismissed the need for any new legislation to flesh out 
autonomy and ancestral domain issues from an eventual accord, 
claiming that existing legislation on indigenous peoples 
would suffice.  He also insisted that the ARMM would continue 
to exist and that the MILF must somehow "fit into it" in the 
post-accord era.  He predicted a peace accord was possible 
"by year's end," backing away from earlier estimates of June 
2005. 
 
3.  (C) At an April 14 meeting with poloff, MILF technical 
committee member Musib Buat spoke with guarded optimism when 
he assessed the prospects of the upcoming meetings in 
Malaysia.  He said the GRP has privately indicated it will 
establish a "Bangsamoro Commission" akin to the largely 
"ineffective" National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. 
Buat indicated the MILF did not welcome such a proposal, 
calling it a recycled concept lacking budget and other 
resources.  Buat also lamented that the GRP tends to come to 
the negotiations with "its hands tied," without the autonomy 
to negotiate freely. 
 
A State Within A State 
---------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Separately, poloff obtained from an MILF technical 
committee member a draft document of "general concepts and 
negotiation parameters" for the MILF technical committee 
members.  Although replete with legalistic language citing 
the "historic homeland and traditional abode of the 
Bangsamoros," the document clarifies MILF concepts of 
"ancestral territoriality, historical identity, political 
governance, and natural resources." 
 
5.  (C) The MILF concept of the Bangsamoro homeland stretches 
from the Sulu Archipelago to Palawan including all but the 
northern and eastern existing provinces of Mindanao.  An 
indigenous peoples' representative on the MILF technical 
committee described the ultimate Bangsamoro objective as "a 
state within a state."  He told poloff the area his Blaan 
tribe holds centers on General Santos City.  He stressed that 
he is making sure the MILF does not cut out his people from 
any potential agreement on ancestral domain.  (Comment. 
Sentiments like these indicate there may be some daylight in 
the concept of "Bangsamoro homeland."  Social and religious 
cleavages exist with the Blaan and other indigenous groups 
that remain territorially and culturally distinct from the 
Maguindanaoan tribe -- the dominant ethnic group of the MILF. 
 End Comment.) 
6.  (C) The document clearly states that "present areas of 
the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) shall form a 
part of the core of the Bangsamoro homeland."  Regarding 
governance, the document notes that a "transfer of power for 
self-governance from the parent State to the Bangsamoro 
juridical entity" will take from five to seven years.  In 
this period of "shared sovereignty," a transitional mechanism 
will transfer and devolve powers and authorities that will 
incorporate "the existing autonomous region and institutions 
for self-governance."  The document also notes that a 
multinational third party would monitor compliance of any 
GRP-MILF comprehensive compact, as well as evaluate the 
progress of shared sovereignty arrangements toward full 
self-governance. 
 
7.  (C) Regarding natural resources, the "Bangsamoro 
authority or entity" will have the right to "utilize and 
develop their territorial jurisdictions and ancestral lands," 
including the "occupation, possession, conservation, and 
exploitation of all the natural resources found therein." 
Existing forest concessions and mining permits granted by the 
GRP or ARMM would require renewal, and the exploitation of 
sea and fresh water areas within the Bangsamoro territorial 
jurisdictions and the mining of strategic minerals may be 
subject to economic cooperation arrangements upon entry into 
force of the comprehensive compact. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
8.  (C) There is no real indication of any significant 
meeting of the minds between the GRP and the MILF over the 
past several months; it remains a mystery to us why the 
Government of Malaysia first delayed this round of talks but 
now apparently believes the time for talks is more opportune 
than a month or two ago.  It will be at least minimally 
useful for leaders on both the GRP and MILF to be able to 
cite the new round of talks as an indication of some sort of 
forward motion, even if the devil is apt to remain in the 
details for months -- if not years -- to come. 
Ricciardone