By DAVID DIZON

The appointment of former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon as the government's chief peace adviser will not derail ongoing peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the chief of the government peace panel with MILF said Monday.

Undersecretary Rodolfo Garcia of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said Esperon knows the dynamic of the Mindanao peace process very well, having spent time as commander of the 6th Infantry Division. He said Esperon also helped draft amendments on the AFP Guidelines on the Primacy of the GRP-MILF Peace Process to make the environment conducive to the talks.

"Many things could be said about him. I believe that once he is given a task, he will set his mind to it and do it like a true soldier. It comes with a deep appreciation of the problem of Mindanao," Garcia told a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

Garcia downplayed reports that the MILF is not happy with Esperon's appointment as peace adviser. "What is important is that a political settlement, a political process of negotiations moves forward. It does not matter who is there. It does not matter as long as we can move the peace process forward," he said.

Former Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye announced Esperon's appointment on Sunday, less than a week after the AFP chief's retirement. Esperon replaced Secretary Jesus Dureza who is taking over as President Arroyo's official spokesman.

In an interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newbreak, Silvestre Bello, former chair of the government's peace panel with the National Democratic Front (NDF), said being a former military chief does not necessarily make Esperon a "hawk".

Bello said former President Fidel Ramos, also a former military chief, succeeded in concluding a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996.

Bello said the case of Ramos shows that former soldiers may even turn out to be the best peacemakers.

Esperon's appointment drew criticism from various groups who scored the former AFP chief's human rights record and alleged involvement in the rigging of the 2004 presidential election.

The left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said Esperon’s appointment casts doubt on the Arroyo government’s sincerity in the peace negotiations.

"With a bloody human rights record, Esperon is the anti-thesis of the peace process. Mrs. Arroyo appointed the general who was in a state of denial over extrajudicial killings. How can Esperon help advance peace?" Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said.

The MILF leadership said Esperon's appointment will make no difference in the peace process but only shows the growing militarization of the Arroyo administration.

MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal said personalities involved in the peace talks are secondary to the policy of the government "whether it is determined or sincere to forge a peaceful negotiated settlement to the Mindanao problem."

He cited the case of former chief negotiator Silvestre Afable whom he said enjoyed very good credibility with the MILF but did not deliver much "because the policy of the government is not for the genuine resolution of the conflict."

Iqbal allayed fears that the MILF is not comfortable facing military men as peace negotiators. He said MILF negotiators also worked with government negotiators who were military men namely General Fortunato Abat, General Orlando Soriano, General Edgardo Batenga and General Rodolfo Garcia, the current government chief peace negotiator.

Despite his statement on the apparent militarization of the government's peace panel, Iqbal described Esperon "more as a peacemaker."

"Esperon as a person, although he's a military man...but he's more of a peacemaker rather than a hardliner," he said.

In a related development, Maulana Bobby Alonto, a member of the MILF peace panel, told the MILF Web site (ww.luwaran.com) that Dureza's replacement shows that the government is pursuing a counter-insurgency approach to the Mindanao problem.

"Expect more and more delays in the peace talks," he said.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Lorelei Fajardo on Monday said Esperon's appointment augurs well for the peace process because of his experience as military chief-of-staff. She also dismissed talk that President Arroyo is appointing more military men in government positions.

"Peace is the ultimate desire of any military man...The perceived increase in military appointment in the government is purely a romantic notion. This is not new as in the past administration's retired military officers who are still in the prime of their careers have much to offer in the civilian world be it in private or government sector," she said in a statement.

"Now he can very well use his experiences in trying to attain the elusive peace everyone desires," she said.

Opposition Sen. Francis Escudero said Esperon's appointment was a "paradox" considering that his previous work as military chief meant that he had to protect the people from enemies of the state.

"For someone to sit in the peace negotiating table, he or she has to provide the stimulus to forge genuine peace and end the long standing war and impunities from both sides. He has to provide the momentum to also resolve other conflicts in the country through democratic processes," the senator said. - With a report from ABS-CBN Cotabato