Malaysia is ‘worst choice’ as Mindanao peace mediator—Pimentel

MANILA, Philippines—Malaysia is “the worst choice” as mediator in peace talks with Moro rebels in volatile Mindanao, former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Thursday.

“I think that’s the worst choice we can have to get Malaysia involved as peacekeeping force,” Pimentel said in the wake of a clash in Basilan Tuesday where 19 soldiers were killed.

He cited the Philippines’ conflict with Malaysia over Sabah, and Kuala Lumpur’s supposed close association with the Moro National Liberation Front.

Instead, Pimentel said that Indonesia would have been a better choice as mediator in the peace negotiations.

The 12,000-strong MILF has waged a rebellion since the 1970s for an independent Islamic state or autonomous-rule in the southern third of the mainly Catholic Philippines.

The rebellion has left about 150,000 people dead, with most of the deaths occurring in the 1970s when an all-out war raged.

Although the two sides signed a truce in 2003 that paved the way for peace talks, the ceasefire is frequently marred by clashes across the vast southern Mindanao region that Muslims claim as their ancestral homeland.

The talks also broke down in August when the MILF rejected the government’s roadmap for peace, heightening tensions in Mindanao.