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The unwarranted intervention of some foreign parties in the Mindanao peace process is making it difficult for the national government to resolve its internal problem with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, former Senate president Franklin Drilon said Sunday.

We certainly don't want to happen to Mindanao what happened to Kosovo, Drilon said, describing the foreign intervention during the war in conflict in Kosovo in the 1990s.

The former senator also said that the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain clearly violates the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Drilon said that he has been been receiving reports that countries like Malaysia and the United States are pressuring the governments peace panel to compromise and grant the separatist group the proposed Islamic homeland.

We certainly don't want to happen to Mindanao what happened to Kosovo, Drilon reiterated adding that the homeland deal clearly violates the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Drilon said he was alarmed when MILF chairman Al Haj Murad asked the Malaysian government revive the peace talks which were halted when rebel forces attacked unarmed civilians in Mindanao. He also cited the inappropriateness of the Malaysian peace facilitators's request for the military to stop pursuing MILF field units involved in the alleged atrocities.

A day before the supposed signing of the MOA-AD between the Philippine government and the MILF on August 5 in Malaysia, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order and set oral arguments to hear the petitions of national leaders and local officials opposing the provisions of the homeland deal.

The postponement of the signing of the controversial agreement was later followed by series of attacks reportedly committed by MILF field units in some areas in Mindanao, where the rebels allegedly occupied villages, burned homes and assaulted civilians.

I hope Malacañang will find the moral courage to send a diplomatic note to Malaysia, saying in no uncertain terms that the Philippine government will implement its laws against criminals who attack and murder unarmed civilians, Drilon said.

He also urged the government to resolve the conflict in Mindanao as an internal. Drilon added the problem on the MOA-AD can be resolved through dialogues with the people of Mindanao, and not from consultations with foreign countries.

The internationalization of the Mindanao peace process is against our national interests, Drilon, who served as labor, justice and executive secretary under previous administrations, said.

British ambassador's offer declined

At the same time, Drilon also disagreed on the offer of British Ambassador to the Philippines Peter Beckingham who said his office was willing to bring officials from the United Kingdom to share with the government peace panel and the MILF how the Northern Ireland peace process had progressed.

While we appreciate the generosity of the British ambassador, we regret to inform him that the case of Northern Ireland is the wrong model for the Mindanao Peace Process, Drilon said.

Critics have questioned the presence of US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney in Malaysia to attend the the signing of the MOA-AD. Kenney said that the US is neither a party nor a signatory.

I went there because I was invited as a member of the Diplomatic Corps and when you're a member and you get invited, if you're available, you should go she said.

Kenney also added that the US government will not support any move or policy that will institute independence for Mindanao.

What we will support is lasting peace for Mindanao, as long as it is within the territorial integrity of the Philippines she said last week.

Asked for comment on the MOA-AD, Kenney refused to make an opinion, explaining that she has not read the documents yet.