Government, MILF note progress on 2 crucial issues

DAVAO CITY-Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace negotiators concluded on Saturday their 30th round of talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with high notes on the progress on two crucial issues and a joint condemnation on the armed attacks by an MILF faction on government military outposts in Maguindanao.

In a statement issued on Monday by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the two panels disclosed that their respective technical working groups (TWGs) have made progress saying that they already “discussed and reached consensus on some issues on power-sharing and revenue generation and wealth-sharing arrangements.”

“The Parties note the progress in the discussion on a framework agreement,” the statement said.

The statement said power-sharing has three items: reserved powers for the National Government, exclusive powers for the new political entity (NPE), which will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and concurrent powers shared by the National Government and the NPE.

It said that reserved powers of the National Government “include defense and external security, foreign policy, coinage and monetary policy, among others.” Wealth creation, or revenue generation and sourcing, “is important to ensure fiscal autonomy of the NPE with capacity to have its own sources of revenues.”

Both panels said in the statement that “among the most difficult issues being dealt with on the table are power-sharing and wealth-sharing which are laid out in the Decision Points on Principles signed by both parties in April this year.”

The two panels announced that they have agreed to meet again in late this month to resolve the contentious points.

The statement also condemned as “senseless” the attacks mounted by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), formerly known Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Both government and MILF panels looked at the BIFM as “spoilers in peace process” and assured each other “to ensure that these spoilers in the peace process will not succeed.”

“It is our common knowledge that the spoilers are doing their part in trying to make the peace process very hard for us,” the joint statement said.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said “there was sabotage on on-going MILF-Government peace negotiations.”

The Mindanao Peace Caucus (MPC), a former observer in the talks, also warned that political groups may have instigated the BIFM to launch the attacks during the time of Islamic fasting month of Ramadan to derail the talks as they did every time that the two negotiation panels were near to a signing of a political settlement in the past.

“MPC believes that the current attacks in the towns of Datu Unsay, Guindulungan, Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters are being used as a proxy war by politicians and powers that be in Mindanao who feel threatened by an incipient peace agreement between the Philippine government and the MILF,” it said.

The group said that “while BIFF may have grievances, MPC believes that there are influential politicians riding on in their issues in order to create a scenario that will put to serious question the viability of signing a peace agreement with the MILF.” The MPC did not name any political group.

Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Deles earlier said “that the lawless group, not being part of the MILF, is not covered by any cease-fire agreement.”

“This act of aggression of the BIFM is meant to derail the peace process between the government and the MILF. We assure the public that these incidents will not affect the substantial gains that we have carefully and persistently built with our counterparts, foremost of which is the ceasefire mechanism that continues to hold on the ground and kept the peace for our communities,” she said.

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