On Zambo peace panel consultation: OPAPP supports Celso’s protest
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) assured Mayor Celso Lobregat the conduct of a meaningful and credible consultation concerning the peace process in the city in January, as she expressed regrets over the failure of a similar activity conducted by the government panel here from Dec. 15-16.
In an electronic mail sent to Mayor Lobregat on December 29, 2009, OPAPP Secretary Annabelle Abaya said she will be pleased to provide OPAPP’s resources in conducting the consultation that the Zamboanga chief executive intends to sponsor next month.
Sec. Abaya’s e-mail was in response to Lobregat’s letter strongly protesting the GRP “consultation in the city from Dec. 15-16 intended for city and municipal mayors in Region 9 due to very short notice, lack of coordination with panel members and other observations.
“I read with much sadness your letter informing me that the consultations organized by the GRP panel did not turn out as you would have wished, due to lack of preparations and sufficient notice to participants. I appreciate your concern for proper consultation, as the OPAPP shares your view on the significance of such an undertaking. I have taken Adel Antonino as a special consultant for this effort, and I would like to work with you,” Sec. Abaya’s letter read.
She said, she learned about Lobregat’s plan to convene a consultation on the renewed GRP-MILF peace talks through Antonio, who represents the Mindanao local government units in the peace panel. “He also let me know that you are putting together the people who need to be consulted and had asked my assistance for this.”
“I will be pleased to have the OPAPP provide you its resources in putting this together, and ensuring that it is a credible effort to listen to the people,” Sec. Abaya continued.
Prior to her assumption as presidential peace adviser, Abaya was a conflict resolution practitioner by profession, with dialogue as one of her main areas of practice. “As such I will be more than pleased to lend you a hand in planning the effort, including the design, selection of participants and their representation, and the facilitation of the consultation itself. We must of course work very closely on this so you can gain confidence in the way it will be conducted,” she stressed.
As this developed, Mayor Lobregat said he is vindicated by Sec. Abaya’s letter which supports his position on the conduct of the supposed consultation in the city last December.
Lobregat has strongly protested the manner the government peace panel conducted the two-day consultation in Zamboanga City and deliberately did not attend the same to drive home the point that the activity was not an honest to goodness consultation.
He lashed out at people who “gate crashed” the consultation, intended originally only for municipal and city mayors in the region, for jeopardizing the position of Zamboanga City.
In a protest letter addressed to Local Government Undersecretary Austere Panadero, dated December 14, 2009, Lobregat sharply reacted to various observations which he said made the event illegitimate. Among the observations that Lobregat cited were the very short notice extended to the intended participants; the lack of coordination with other GRP peace panel members such as Adel Antonino, who represents the local government units in Mindanao; as well as the tapping of some resource persons who were respondent-intervenors in the landmark case of Province of North Cotabato, City of Zamboanga, et. al vs. the GRP wherein the Supreme Court declared the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain as unconstitutional and contrary to law.
Lobregat said the letter invitation coming from the DILG official dated Dec. 11 was received by his office only on Dec. 14 at 9:05 in the morning and personally delivered by Dir. Pedro Cuevas, DILG City Director.
“Considering the importance of this “consultation” on the peace process, it is quite a surprise that the coordination of this activity was made on a very short notice, taking into consideration that activities related to the yuletide season are hectic. As a matter of fact, the undersigned had long made prior commitments of equal importance in Manila on Dec. 15-16, 2009,” the mayor said in his protest letter.
Lobregat also said that that Antonino himself, when contacted, expressed surprise as he did not know of such an activity set in Zamboanga City.
The opposition admitted that they “gate crashed” the supposed consultation and lambasted Lobregat for allegedly not attending the activity and for neglecting the Zamboangueños in such a very “important” issue.
Lobregat, with the support of the different sectors in the city, provided a strong leadership in August 2008 that led to the declaration of the proposed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain-Bangsamoro Juridical Entity as unconstitutional and contrary to law by the Supreme Court.
Lobregat has been closely monitoring and actively participating in all activities that threatened the sovereignty and integrity of Zamboanga, Mindanao and the entire Republic due to interim peace agreements.
On August 22, 2008, Lobregat was given the rare opportunity to speak before the Supreme Court and to supplement the arguments of the petitioners relative to the proposed MOA-AD-BJE. Lobregat’s 22-minute presentation before the Court justices influenced the landmark decision of the Supreme Court issued on October 14, 2008.
No less than Justice Secretary and concurrent Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera, who was arguing for the government position publicly acknowledged Lobregat’s eloquent presentation before the High Tribunal and stressed that Lobregat “carried the ball” for the opposition. (Sheila Covarrubias)