Press Release
September 10, 2013

PIMENTEL SUES FOR DIALOG; URGES WARRING
GROUPS TO LAY DOWN ARMS

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, PDP Laban President, today called on both the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to put down their arms and continue the dialogue for a peaceful resolution of the Zamboanga crisis.

Pimentel said that lasting peace in Mindanao could only be attained not through the use of force, but by continuing with the consultations as part of the ongoing peace process aimed at crafting a political settlement to the age-old problem.

He said that enduring peace stands or falls on mutual trust, not on hate and violence as he urged both the military and members of the MNLF, led by its chairman Nur Misuari, to end the bloody confrontation on the coastal villages of Zamboanga City.

Pimentel said that it is important that the Mindanao peace talks should include the different groups in Muslim Mindanao so that everybody becomes an active stakeholder in brokering a final accord to the costly separatist movements.

He said that there appears to be a need to revisit the peace talks with the Moro Islamic National Liberation Front (MILF) to introduce new approaches to enlarge the peace negotiations and cover the whole gamut of Muslim Mindanao.

Pimentel denounced in no uncertain terms the violence that has erupted and claimed innocent lives, adding that there is probably a need to review the terms of the 1996 peace agreement that have remained unimplemented.

He said that the country could not afford to dismember its territory, adding that the Mindanao peace talks should also tackle the visions and aspirations of the different secessionist groups, including the MNLF and the heirs to the historical Sabah claim.

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