The
Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have agreed
to create a new autonomous political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), moving closer to a peace agreement that could bring
development to the war-torn, impoverished Philippine south.
Speaking from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a day after
the government and the MILF concluded the 27th round of talks, government chief
negotiator Marvic Leonen said on Wednesday that the two sides had signed a document
that contained their “decision points on principles.” Those points, he said,
would guide discussions on the substantive agenda of the peace negotiations.
The signing of the document dispelled cynicism about
the progress of the peace talks, Leonen said.
“As far as the government is concerned, these common
points are commitments that can be properly accommodated by our current legal
and political realities,” Leonen said, reading from a prepared statement.
Among the issues the two sides agreed upon was the
commitment to “work for the creation of an autonomous political entity in place
of the ARMM”, as both sides recognised that the “status quo is unacceptable.”
The ARMM is composed of the provinces of Basilan,
Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. It is
currently run by officer in charge Mujib Hattaman, appointed by President
Benigno Aquino III last year when Congress passed a law that postponed the
August 2011 regional elections to May 2013, to be held simultaneously with the
midterm polls.
Speaking to reporters via Skype surrounded by his
panel members, Leonen said replacing the ARMM with a new entity would require a
law.
The government must convince Congress to pass such a
law.
The new autonomous political entity “should improve
on the experiences of the past”, Leonen said, referring to President Aquino’s
insistence on reforms in the ARMM.
At present, he said the “contours” of the entity and
how it will be put in place were still under discussion.”
Poles
apart
The chief negotiator acknowledged that right now the
government and the MILF were “poles apart” when it comes to their respective
positions on the geographic scope of the autonomous political entity.
For her part, Presidential Adviser on the Peace
Process Teresita Deles, who attended the Palace briefing, called on people to support the process and give their
inputs.
“It is very important that at the end of the day that
whatever is signed has broad support from the public,” Deles said.
Leonen said the two sides were talking about an
autonomous political entity that would meet the requirements of the
Constitution. How this could be done is still under discussion, he said.
10-point
agreement
Included in the 10-point agreement was that the
autonomous political entity will have a ministerial form of government.
Asked how the talks would affect the ARMM elections
scheduled for next year, Leonen said this was being discussed and that there
were “various options on the table”.
But if no peace agreement is signed before then, the
regional elections will proceed.
Asked if the regional elections were a pressure on
both sides to come to an agreement, Leonen said: “We are pressured to have an
agreement because of the conditions in the area. We are pressured because we
know that many people have died in this armed conflict for reasons that we can
address on a negotiating table. We are not pressured because of this
[election].”
Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, a member of the government
panel, explained that the signing of a
final peace agreement would “not automatically suspend the ARMM elections. Both
sides would have to meet many requirements, because there were many
requirements, including getting Congress to pass a law that would create a new
autonomous political entity that would replace the ARMM.
The two camps are set to meet again next month.
The signed document contains 10 of what originally
were 11 points of consensus reached by the parties December last year,
including the grant of “genuine autonomy” for the Moro people.
Decision
points
The other points outlined in the document include
guarantee of human rights; listing of powers reserved for the national
government in relation to the autonomous setup; recognition of the need for
power-sharing and wealth-sharing; commitment for continuity based on previous
consensus in the already 15-year negotiations; and recognition of “Bangsamoro
identity and the legitimate grievances and claims of the Bangsamoro people.”
The “decision points” is the first major document of
the negotiations signed under the Aquino administration. The document was
supposedly inked last month but the MILF panel refused to sign it due to
“annotations”.
An MILF news release said the government panel “made
four amendments that … destroyed the essence of the document”, which was
prepared during the February meeting.
Because of the controversy over the annotation, a
ranking MILF official told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, back-channel talks
became necessary. Efforts by the facilitator, Dato Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed,
culminated a day before the parties met in Kuala Lumpur for the official
schedule on Tuesday.
“That was when the real meeting happened,” the MILF
official said.
“Both acknowledged the roles played by the
facilitator and the International Contact Group in reaching this breakthrough,”
the parties said in a joint statement announcing the agreement.
Christine O. Avenaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
With reports from Ryan Rosauro, Charlie Señase and
Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
Dear
Reader,
May I
invite you to visit our new blog: IIMS-Asean http://iims-asean.blogspot.com/
News
and activities of the International Institute of Medicine and Science Asean
Chapter of IIMS, Inc. California, USA - Health care, Life Science, Education,
Research, Philanthropy. Asean is the economic organisation of ten countries
located in South East Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. IIMS is a
non-profit organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment