July 8,2012: The third day of the four-day “Moro Leaders’ Assembly” will commence this morning with the opening of the dialogue proper amongst these leaders, irrespective of organizational affiliations and party loyalties.

An expected 800 Moro leaders will participate in the dialogue.

The session will start with the opening statement of the MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim where he will give the overview of the dialogue including its objectives. This will be followed by messages of HE Dato’ Tengku Abd’ Ghaafar Tengku bin Mohamed , the Malaysian facilitator, which will deal on the current status of the GPH-MILF peace negotiation, and then to be followed by the inputs from HE OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ehsanoglu,  through his official representative, HE Tahir Saif, Deputy Director of the OIC’s Minority Affairs Department.

Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief peace negotiator and chair of the MILF information committee, will act as the moderator of the dialogue.

Iqbal disclosed to Luwaran that strictly speaking the gathering is not a meeting, because it has no presiding officer and there will be no formal decision to make.

He explained that his role is merely to moderate or facilitate the flow of ideas or views from the participants.

He said the objective of the dialogue is to get the best of views or ideas from the participants on subjects that affect us all, as a people.

“Our resource speakers including Chairman Murad merely inputted their expertise or views on matters relevant to the central themes of this dialogue,” he said.

He disclosed that the central themes of the dialogue are as follows: (1) Seeking the views of the Moro leaders on how to unify their voices and actions in the face of the difficult situation the Moros today; and (2) Seeking the views and support of the Moro leaders and the various organizations on ways to strengthen the current position of the MILF in its peace talks with the Government of the Philippines (GPH).

Iqbal also enumerated the simple rules of the dialogue, some of which follow:

1.Seek permission to speak first and when recognized by the moderator, state your name, position, and address, and start expressing your views direct to the point.

2.Every speaker is only allotted 3-5 minutes to speak;

3.Views expressed during the deliberation generally do not require answer from any of the resource speakers. However, any of the resource speakers may answer or be requested to respond or make the necessary clarification on an issue raised on the floor. In the case of the MILF, the chairman can reply directly to a question or he designates any member of the Central Committee to make a rejoinder;

4.Any view, positive or otherwise, will be respected and recorded. There will be no further discussion or debate. If necessary, it can be the subject of further deliberation by the concerned parties, but in another venue.

At the end of the dialogue, a recapitulation of the essential points will be made by the   Secretariat of the Steering Committee, which will become the basis of the official report of the proceeding.