Butuan City (AsiaNews) – Members of the Bishops-Ulama Conference of the Philippines have called on the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to return "as soon as possible" to the negotiating table "for the benefit of the Mindanao people".

Talks are under way in Kuala Lumpur but they have been stalled for several months because of a demand by MILF for another 1000 hectares of land. Manila declared the demand "unconstitutional" and rejected it, leading to the interruption of talks and a resumption of hostilities.

In a document published on 30 September, the conference said: "Only negotiations, no matter how long and tedious the process would be, could resolve the conflict in a humane way".

The conference sent the message through the media, addressing it to the presidential adviser on the Peace Process, Jesus Dureza, and to MILF chairman, Murad Ebrahim.

The conference is composed of 23 Catholic bishops, 24 Muslim ulamas and 18 Protestants: to prepare the statement, they met for a plenary meeting in Davao City. The statement was signed by the Archbishop of Davao, Mgr Fernando Capalla, Hilario Gomes of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines and Dr Mahid Mutilan, president of the Ulama League of the Philippines.

In a separate statement, the 16 Royal Sultanates in Central Mindanao, also appealed to the warring parties: "Only with dialogue can we find a joint solution to resolve contentious issues."

The MILF has been fighting the government for more than 40 years to gain autonomy for the Muslim minority that largely inhabits the southern part of the Philippines. In recent years, armed clashes decreased significantly after the start of peace negotiations with the government of Manila.