Phillipine negotiators hoping to end a Muslim insurgency have proposed creating monuments to abuses committed on both sides, including beheadings by rebels and a president's desecration of an insurgent headquarters with a pork feast.| That's quite the moral equivalent. |
| "I'm not sure where, but I'm sure we've seen it." |
The Philippine government and the 11,000-man Moro Islamic Liberation Front remain optimistic a peace treaty can be reached under President Aquino's term despite key differences that have stalled Malaysian-sponsored talks. Those differences include the size of an expanded autonomous region in southern Mindanao and the powers to be accorded to the Muslim officials who would run it.
In a new irritant, the
Among the historic sites that could be marked are Camp Abubakar in the heartland of southern Mindanao, where then-President Joseph Estrada feasted on roast pork with his top generals during a victory party after the sprawling
Estrada's actions were seen as inflammatory and sparked fierce protests at the time, although he claimed that he was not trying to disparage the Islam.
| "Where would anyone get such a silly idea?" |
Leonen also said a marker should be installed at Basilan, where the
Philippine officials said they were considering whether to ask the National Historical Institute to begin studying where the monuments and markers could be installed in what could be a joint project, Deles said, adding that versions by both sides would be examined in portraying violent events.