Aborted MOA signing no cause for embarrassment -- Kenney Christine Avendaño Philippine Daily Inquirer
August 05, 2008
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia -- US Ambassador Kristie Kenney had a few words of cheer amid the sour atmosphere here following the aborted signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
In her usual cheery manner, Kenney said she did not think the latest snag in the bid to resume formal peace talks between the government and the MILF was cause for embarrassment for the Arroyo administration.
Kenney was among the foreign ambassadors that the government had invited to witness the signing of the MOA, which the Supreme Court ordered put off at the last minute following a petition by local government officials who protested that they had not been consulted.
"I'm sure they, the Malaysians who worked hard with the MILF, would have loved to have a signing," the US ambassador told reporters here.
“But you know, respecting the democratic process is never a cause for embarrassment and you have to respect the court and to have not done that would have been wrong,” she said. “It’s the rule of law. So I don’t think you should regard this as an embarrassment.''
Kenney said she believed the government regarded this development as a "natural part of the process.''
"Its disappointing but not something you can't continue to work through,'' said Kenney, who spoke to the media before leaving for her flight back to Manila.
The US ambassador said that while what happened was a "temporary setback,'' people could use this as an "opportunity to keep working on issues and applaud.''
Kenney was on the same plane with the government delegation which arrived Monday, only to find out that the Supreme Court had issued a temporary restraining order against the formal signing of the MOA between the government and the MILF.
A source said that Kenney was to have announced an additional P25 million in US development assistance for Mindanao had the signing taken place.
But Kenney denied she was making such announcement but acknowledged that while the US had already "a big development package for Mindanao,'' it was still "looking at doing more.''
"I'm just here to sit in the audience and applaud,'' Kenney said.
She said this development would "absolutely not'' dampen US commitment to help make Mindanao "more peaceful and more prosperous.''
"Today our role was very backstage; it’s just to watch and applaud,'' she said.
And while she said the US was "now just watching,'' it was also appreciating the way the two sides were reacting to it, and that was --- that they didn’t think this was a tragedy at all.
