Manila Demands set forward by a formerly secessionist group are only going to be harder on the Philippine government considering the latter's deadline for parties to sign a political settlement next week, a rebel negotiator said.

"All the hard issues are on the table and clear to all parties; for instance, power-sharing, wealth-sharing, territory, and interim period [for agreements to be implemented]," Mohagher Iqbal, the chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), pointed out during the second day of three-day peace talks with government officials in Malaysia.

"The establishment of police, internal security force, basic law [at the existing Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, or ARMM], are equally challenging," Iqbal said. He added that the ARMM, established in 1989, is proposed to be called ‘Moro sub-state or state'.

The government and the MILF must also specify a transition period for the agreements to be implemented, said Iqbal, suggesting that Congress could even be required to pass constitutional amendments for some agreements to be implemented.

Iqbal chose to avoid comment on the approach of the government in responding to the MILF's proposed expansion of the ARMM to include 700 Muslim-dominated villages.

"Whether this will be done through another referendum for autonomy or through another mechanism is not yet known," said another source.

Main hurdles

Manila has expressed reservations about three clauses of an 11-point formula that both sides tentatively agreed on during talks in Malaysia on December 7, Iqbal said. "If we cannot settle these issues soon, surely, we are heading for more headaches."

Government negotiators are aiming to forge a political settlement in 2013, a source said.

Iqbal added: "We must tighten our belt and continue to deal with these issues head-on, bearing in the mind that time is running out, if we are to take into consideration the view of the Philippine government that the comprehensive compact has to be signed next month. We are now treading the most difficult phase of the 15-year old Philippine government-MILF peace negotiations. We are now dealing with the core of the Moro question and the armed conflict in Mindanao, which is the issue of genuine self-governance for our people," Iqbal said.