Manila:
Continuing talks between the government and a dominant Moro group concluded on Saturday with both sides committing to proceed with further discussions on the issue of power and wealth sharing.
The 33rd round of Formal Exploratory Talks between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ended on a positive note in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) announced on Sunday.
“The Panels and their Technical Working Groups (TWG) made substantial progress in crafting the annexes on power-sharing and wealth-sharing,” OPAPP said in a statement.
Power and wealth sharing are two vital issues involved in the conflict in the south.
The third annex under Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro concerns “normalisation”.
The parlays in the Malaysian capitaI was the first time that the TWG on normalisation was convened since the signing of the Framework Agreement last month as the path to end the decades-old armed conflict in southern Philippines.
According to chief government peace negotiator Marvic Leonen, both panels should be able to complete all three annexes of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) by the end of the year.
A joint statement issued by Leonen and his counterpart, MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, said “substantial progress” has been achieved by the panels in crafting the annexes on Power-sharing and Wealth-sharing
“Its members agreed on an outline of issues and had initial positive exchanges on these matters,” the statement said, adding the two panels agreed to convene again in December.
“They remain committed to complete the annexes before the end of the year,” the joint statement said.
Negotiations for a multi-dimension solution to the decades-old conflict in southern Philippines achieved a major leap forward in October with the signing of the FAB in early October this year after exhaustive on and off peace negotiations.
The outbreak of conflict in Mindanao started during the early 1970s when a group of young Moros launched a secessionist struggle to forge their own identity where they can exercise freedom of religion and exercise their own customs and way of life.
In 1996 the government of then president Fidel Ramos forged a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) of Nur Misuari. Despite the pact and the creation of a supposed self-governing area for Moros on parts of the island, hostilities with the government went on as the MILF continued with the struggle abandoned by the MNLF.
Negotiators are confident that the current path to peace taken by the government and MILF will bear fruit as it is broader in scope to include not only political, religious and cultural aspects of nationhood, but also economic as well.
The wealth sharing aspect of the Framework Agreement of the Bangsamoro is expected to ensure that Moros benefit from the wealth found in their territory.
Areas in the proposed Bangsamoro are expected to cover Central Mindanao’s Liguasan Marsh area in Maguindanao and North Cotabato as well as Tawi-Tawi and Sulu further southwest.
