By its words and actions, however, it seems that the administration is not walking the road to peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front from the Starting Line, but has chosen to start in medias res or in the middle of things. Never mind if the middle is quite muddled.

The failure of the Philippine government to first lay down a firm and clear basis for negotiating with shifty rebels is risky, if not irresponsible.

Already, complications are starting to manifest themselves in the abrupt recessing the other day of the peace talks shortly after they opened in Kuala Lumpur.

* * *

WHAT SUB-STATE?: Although President Noynoy Aquino and MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim discussed in their recent one-on-one in Tokyo a “sub-state” in the Muslim areas in the South, the government panel was talking later in KL only of “autonomy” and not a “sub-state.”

On that key issue, the talks ended abruptly ahead of schedule with the rebels saying they have to ask their central committee about the autonomy idea. The MILF apparently went to KL having in mind the “sub-state” taken up with President Aquino.

The early miscue highlights the problem that arises when top-level discussions (with no less than the President of the Republic engaging the other party) are not backed up by a joint communiqué, however short, documenting the key points taken up and agreed upon.

The public and everybody else are now left with nothing to fall back on except the press releases and statements issued separately by the two parties. These are unreliable.

* * *

NEGLECTED: The absence of a communiqué or the approved minutes of the Aquino-Murad talks is one of the basics that have been glossed over in the government’s fresh attempt to find a just and lasting solution to the conflict in Mindanao.

Serious students of Philippine history who have had exposure to bilateral discussions that impinge on sovereignty and territorial integrity point to other basic elements that appear to have been neglected.

For instance, there has been no government attempt to determine if the MILF is truly the legitimate voice and representative of the Muslim population in the South.

While claiming to represent Muslim interests, the MILF is not even able to control its field commanders who do not agree with the direction that the Murad group has taken.

It is not enough for the MILF now to disown its renegade splinter led by Ustadz Ameril Umbra Kato called the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

* * *

FILIPINO BA SILA?: Malacañang chief negotiator Marvic Leonen said the government cannot offer the MILF a political framework outside the Constitution, meaning no agreement is feasible that does not hew to the Charter.

If that were so, and it is so, Leonen – and President Aquino himself — should have seen to it from the very beginning that the Constitution is recognized by the MILF as a basic reference point in the delicate discussions.

Aside from their credentials as the authentic voice of the Muslim population, the rebels should be asked also to put down in writing (1) if they are indeed Filipinos, and (2) if they submit to the Constitution.

Until now we do not know if we are talking to fellow Filipinos or to foreigners. Why should we talk to foreigners about dismembering our republic?

* * *

OBEY THE CHARTER: There cannot be a provision in the resulting agreement that violates the Constitution. This early, the government must find out if the other party accepts this basic requirement of law.

In 2008, after the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional the planned carving out of a separate Bangsamoro from our sovereign territory, some irate secessionist leaders were quoted as saying they did not recognize the Charter and the Supreme Court.

Malacañang has to make sure this time, by the MILF’s putting it down in writing, that they honor the Constitution and any ruling of the Supreme Court on legal action arising from a “peace” agreement.

* * *

MEDDLING: An indication that some countries were pressuring the Philippine government to accede to the demand for a separate Bangsamoro is the advance presence of then US Ambassador Kristie Kenney in KL where the (aborted) agreement was to be signed.

Talking of foreign pressure, there have been unchallenged reports also that Libya’s Moammar Khaddafi, among other kindred Arab souls, had been supporting the “liberation front” with money and war materiel.

But with Khaddafi himself now fighting for his survival in a civil war, the flow of assistance to rebels in the South has stopped. The “hard times” have reportedly made Muslim separatists mellow and be suddenly susceptible to “peace” overtures.

* * *

PREJUDGMENT: The majority in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has prejudged as irregular the purchase of helicopters by the Philippine National Police, that former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo sold used choppers for the price of new ones.

As judgment has been rendered, they should file the proper charges in court immediately.

Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, committee chairman, has announced that Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo, who has taken up the cudgels for his brother Mike, can be charged with tax evasion.

The committee also has prejudged Iggy’s bookkeeper Rowena del Rosario as lying to the committee. She was cited for contempt and detained.

That is what a witness or resource person gets when his/her testimony does not jibe with the prejudgment of the senators. One has to say what they want to hear.