October 1, 2012 News: Mindanao peace activist priest has retired from active involvement in stressful activities, as per advice of his doctors.

Fr. Eliseo Mercado, Jr., who belongs to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate congregation, stated on his Facebook account that he has stepped down as director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) based in Cotabato City, after he had undergone prostate surgery in Makati last month.

Years earlier, he also had undergone heart-bypass surgery.

“I should take time and begin enjoying life. I should not take any stressful activities,” Mercado said.

As this developed, Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF peace panel secretariat, cited Mercado’s role during the domestic stage of the GPH-MILF peace negotiation where there was no third party facilitation and no international monitoring team to speak of.

“He was effective in acting as go-between between the MILF and government especially his role as head of the Independent Fact-Finding Committee (IFFC) and the Quick Response Team (QRT) especially when fighting erupted between the two parties.

“This is the reason why the MILF requested the Arroyo administration not to push through with the appointment of Mercado as head of the GPH peace panel after Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr. resigned from the post,” Mantawil explained.

“The other reason,” Mantawil added, “is we do not want to put religious color to the negotiation.”

“We hope him well!” Mantawil said.

Mercado's projects, supported by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung of Germany and the European Union, also focused on propagating public consciousness on the need for cross-section support to the Southern Mindanao peace process.

The latest program Mercado launched, with the help of the EU, is the Indigenous Peoples Development Project, which aims to politically empower non-Muslim indigenous communities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Mercado said his post in the IAG will be taken over by its founding executive director, lawyer Benedicto Bacani.

Bacani was formerly law school dean of Notre Dame University in Cotabato City.

He authored a 2004 book “Beyond Paper Autonomy: the Challenge in the Southern Philippines,” is regarded as most comprehensive material on the challenges and opportunities in making autonomy work for Mindanao peace.