Manila - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday appointed a new chief government negotiator with Muslim separatist rebels, in the first step towards restarting stalled peace talks following an outbreak of hostilities in the south. Arroyo named Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis to head the government team in talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) two months after she dissolved the former peace panel.
The new members of the team would be named on or before December 15, according to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
Seguis, undersecretary for special concerns at the Department of Foreign Affairs, has often been tapped to help in critical missions involving Filipinos in distress in foreign countries, especially the Middle East.
He is currently overseeing the repatriation of hundreds of Filipinos stranded in Thailand after two airports in Bangkok were closed by anti-government demonstrators.
"This is a tremendous challenge and opportunity which I humbly accept knowing fully well the difficult road that lies ahead," Seguis said in a statement.
"We will do our work quietly, but diligently because in any negotiation it is just as important to listen and understand the views of the other side," he added.
On September 3, Arroyo dissolved the negotiating team after MILF guerrillas launched a series of deadly attacks on dozens of villages in Mindanao, triggering fierce fighting with the military.
More than 200 people including civilians were killed in the rebel attacks and subsequent clashes between guerrillas and soldiers. More than 500,000 people were also displaced at the height of the hostilities.
The MILF launched the attacks after the Supreme Court blocked the signing of a territorial agreement that would have expanded an existing autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao. The court ruling favoured critics who argued that the deal would violate the constitution.
Due to the suspension of the peace talks, Malaysia pulled out of an international peacekeeping team in Mindanao after four years of heading the 30-member mission that also includes Brunei, Indonesia, Libya and Japan.
