MANILA, Philippines?The government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front were on Saturday talking of reviving the peace talks amid renewed fighting following the collapse of a proposed deal to create a Bangsamoro state? but from vastly different vantage points.

From the MILF camp in Shariff Kabunsuan, Ebrahim Murad, the MILF chief called for a cessation of the ongoing military operations against its military commanders in Mindanao so the government and the rebels can return to the negotiating table.

But he insisted that there would be no renegotiation of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on ancestral domain whose abortive signing triggered the renewed fighting and that the MILF reserved the right to resume its rebellion.

Malacañang said it was ready to return to the negotiating table even as government forces pursued ?criminal elements? of the MILF responsible for the rampage in Central Mindanao that has left more than a hundred people killed and injured, and tens of thousands more displaced.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Golez said the government was always willing to resume the peace talks with the MILF while the Armed Forces flush out the ?common criminals,? MILF commanders Ombra Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar, known as Bravo, deemed responsible for the latest MILF attacks.

?If you go into an all-out [war], you might succeed in ending the [secessionist movement] for now, but the next generation of Moros would eventually take up arms if the issues remain unresolved,? Golez told a Radyo ng Bayan interview.

?That will be the effect of war because they have an ideology, they have children who will become orphans, and war will only create the same problems,? said Golez.

Golez said that the government ?will crush them sooner or later if it comes to an all-out war.?

?[But] the problem is that it?s like a wild bush that when cut will grow again one or two years later,? he said.

He said that the government?s position is to continue to talk to the MILF peace panel, to the MILF central committee.

President Macapagal-Arroyo wants that those who violated the ceasefire agreement ?must be disarmed, must be disintegrated, that?s the approach of government,? he said.

Golez said the negotiations with the MILF would ascertain ?how sincere our counterparts are and how aggressive they are towards the achievement of peace.?

War is option

?We are calling for cessation of hostilities. We can go back again to the negotiating table with Malaysia as mediator. But the MOA-AD is non-negotiable,? Murad said.

He warned of a possible collapse of the peace talks if the government would not reconsider its position of ?reviewing? the MOA.

?War is among the options. It is part of the struggle. The MILF is determined to continue that struggle,? he said.

Murad said the military has started indiscriminate attacks while pursuing the MILF commanders blamed for leading the rampage in Central Mindanao.

Not subject to RP laws

He repeated earlier rejections of a government demand that the rebel commanders be surrendered to face the criminal justice system.

?We cannot subject our members to the laws of the government. We are a revolutionary force,? he said.

He suggested that the government and the MILF could discuss the stalled MOA and the charges against the MILF rebel commanders to the peace talks hosted by Malaysia.

Murad said the MILF sent a request two days ago to Malaysia but Kuala Lumpur has yet to respond to his call.

?Stop the hostilities. We will bring the issue to the peace process,? he said.

The peace talks stalled when the Supreme Court on Aug. 4 suspended the draft MOA to create an independent Bangsamoro state in an expanded autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao.

Since then, MILF forces led by Kato and Bravo attacked several villages and towns in four Mindanao provinces, looting and burning homes and sending 220,000 people fleeing.

Military operations are continuing against the forces of Kato and Bravo.

GMA: Get Kato, Bravo

President Macapagal-Arroyo herself announced the government?s two-pronged policy late Friday?talking peace with the MILF while simultaneously going ahead with military offensives against ?rogue MILF elements.?

?There is no all-out war. We are doing this to have lasting peace in Mindanao. We have enough troops to address the situation, protect the people, prevent the lawless MILF group from further terrorizing them and maintain peace and order in Mindanao,? the President said in a speech at the 20th anniversary celebrations of Toyota Motor Phil.

She said she expected that a final accord will be forged despite the ongoing skirmishes between government troops and the so-called rogue MILF elements.

?We have never deviated from the objectives of the peace process,? she said, explaining that the military campaign would ?remove obstacles to peace.?

She said the 105th, 103rd and 102nd Base Commands of the MILF were ?historically the recalcitrants.?

?They have created troubles before and during the proceedings of the peace process, and they are the ones we expect to create problems even after a final would be forged,? she said.

She reiterated that the MILF surrender the rogue commanders.

?The peace process must be anchored on justice. Hence, the MILF must turn in Commanders Ombra Kato, Bravo and [Sulaiman] Pangalian to face the bar of justice,? she said.

Criminals can?t go scot-free

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro on Saturday said the military was limiting itself to going after the two MILF commanders and their followers but was ready to deal with any other group that tries to help Kato and Bravo.

He urged the MILF to surrender them, saying ?it does them no good to coddle these criminals.?

?I?m in favor of another agreement, whatever it takes to stop the conflict. But you know it just cannot have as a trade-off the criminals going scot-free,? he said.

Golez also clarified the seemingly conflicting positions emanating from Malacañang on the fate of the MOA.

?I think it is very clear that the Palace has one stand. What we are saying is that it must undergo a thorough review first. As Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said, we will no longer continue [with] the signing of the MOA in its present form because we need to have a total review. That?s the real position of the Palace,? he said.

Bring it on

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Saturday said the government should not allow itself to be bullied by the MILF which has claimed that the only way to achieve peace in Mindanao is to sign the MOA.

?If an all-out war is the only option offered by the MILF, the government must give it to them,? Lacson said in a text message.

?It is time for the government to show our people and the international community as well who is in control of the republic,? Lacson said.

Unimplementable

Sen. Loren Legarda said that the MILF cannot insist on an agreement that is ?unimplementable.? She said that the MILF leadership must be ?held answerable for the violence against non-combatants and innocent civilians.?

But Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the government should form a new set of negotiators and, if necessary, offer a public apology to the MILF leadership.

?If the government has to publicly apologize to the MILF leadership for this terrible mistake as a means to restore confidence in the process, then so be it,? Pangilinan also said.

He said the government should offer an apology not only for the ?flawed process? of arriving at the aborted agreement, but also for the ?totally outrageous and unacceptable provisions? of the MOA.

Pangilinan also criticized the unclear stand of government on what to do with the MOA. ?It makes us wonder if there is anyone in charge,? he said.

Sign of weakness

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. had earlier said the changing stance of the government was a sign of weakness.

In a radio interview Saturday, Sen. Edgardo Angara said the government should just wait for the Supreme Court decision before deciding what to do with the MOA.

Several groups had asked the high court to nullify the MOA and declare it as unconstitutional.

?Let?s wait for the decision of the highest court of the land. That will be the law that we should follow,? Angara said. With reports from Edson O. Tandoc Jr. and Inquirer wires