Piñol: Zambo folks should be proud of Celso as mayor
Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol recently commended Mayor Celso Lobregat for having successfully defended the people not only of Zamboanga City but of the Southern Philippines from what could have been disastrous consequences of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) before the Supreme Court a year ago.
“I envied him but proud that a local government official like Mayor Lobregat was able to ventilate and air the grievances and feelings of the local people before the highest court of the land,” Vice Gov. Piñol said, recalling an instance on August 22 last year when Lobregat was given the rare opportunity to stand before the Supreme Court justices and pleaded the case against the MOA-AD.
“It was one moment in our history and I think the people of Zamboanga City should be proud of the fact that you have Celso as your mayor because in that rare moment he was able to prove all and sundry that he can discuss very critical issues, he can ventilate the feelings of the people not only of Zamboanga City but all of Mindanao,” Piñol said after attending the senate committee hearing headed by Sen. Rodolfo Biazon recently.
On the MOA-AD fight, which we also had staunchly supported along with other Muslim and Christian leaders in Mindanao, Piñol said, “We have achieved our goals” that prevented the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) from entering into an agreement that could have resulted in disastrous consequences in Mindanao.”
He said it is now becoming very clear that the MILF does not represent the Bangsamoro people. “It is just confined in Central Mindanao,” he added, stressing that the Supreme Court In favoring the MOA-AD petition saw that “we really represented the majority of the people of Southern Philippines.
According to him, the claims that he, Lobregat and the rest that opposed the homeland deal were just a group of Christian political leaders trying to protect (our) interest had been debunked by the fact that “among us was a Muslim lawyer (Atty. Adel Tamano), among us were Muslim leaders from Basilan and Sultan Kudarat.” “Had that contentious accord been signed, I don’t know where we are right now.”
On the resumption of the peace talks with the MILF, Piñol said he supports it even as he warned the government peace panel not to use the mothballed MOA-AD as basis for negotiations with the separatist group. “I threatened to sue them if they will do that.”
However, he said the GRP panel has assured him and was able to convince him that the mention of MOA-AD in a joint statement was not really an attempt on the part of the GRP panel to use it.
“I felt then as I feel now that it is better to maintain a cordial relations with the GRP panel so that we will be able to get out message across rather than get into another struggle against them which I think would be counter productive,” he concluded, pointing out that the government must now realize any peace negotiation should not be open-ended and that there’s got to be an end to it. (Vic Larato)