MANILA -- The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said Sunday that it is seriously considering the translation of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro into several dialects.
Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF peace panel secretariat, said that translating the historic document, which the Government of the Philippines and the MILF signed last month, into the tongues of those who are the direct beneficiaries of the peace pact is very important.
The framework deal, which is a roadmap to a final peace settlement that is expected by 2016, grants minority Muslims in southern Philippines broad autonomy in exchange for ending more than 40 years of violence that has killed tens of thousands of people and crippled development.
Mantawil said the main problem in the initiative of translating the document is still the "logistical side not the technical requirements," especially the need to mass produce these translations in order for every individual or at least every household to have a copy.
He said that so far, the MILF had already translated the Agreement into Arabic and Maguindanao dialects, and very soon, in Tausug, Maranao, and Tagalog.
Mantawil said the MILF aimed at reaching every man and woman in Mindanao and they should understand the Agreement in their own language.
Meanwhile, the members of the MILF peace panel had met more than 30 former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leaders, who all hailed from Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi, in Cotabato City, last November 3, he said.
One of the leaders of the group was the son of former MNLF commander Maas Bawang, who figured prominently during the early days of fighting in Sulu.
The other leader is currently a town mayor in Tawi-Tawi, who with four others joined the MILF delegation during the signing of the Agreement in Malacañang last October 15.
The question-and-answer session lasted for almost two hours, Mantawil said.
"The group also pledged to translate the Agreement into the Sama and Tausog dialects. They also committed to use their own funds for the printing of these materials," he added.
The MNLF is a former Muslim secessionist group, which signed a final peace pact with the government to end their decades of armed struggle in September 1996.
Recently, the MILF also organized six groups to undertake a massive information campaign to explain to its constituents the framework agreement. (SDR/Sunnex)
