COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 16, 2012) – Peace talks between the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front held in Malaysia ended with substantial progress on the Bangsamoro region in Mindanao.
“It was a very rigorous process with hard and exhaustive discussions but we are pleased to note that the GPH-MILF table has found common language on many of the remaining issues” chief government negotiator Miriam Ferrer said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
She said peace negotiators made substantial progress on the draft annexes that, together with the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, will make up the comprehensive agreement.
The peace panels formed a new team made up of two members each and their respective heads of secretariat to flesh out the annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities.
“We will now be conferring with our principals on all the current drafts produced by the technical working groups and elevated to the Panels for resolution,” she said.
Ferrer said while it has been the goal of both parties to complete all the annexes this year, the panels are cognizant of the remaining amount of detail that still needs to be worked out.
“Flexibility has always been our trademark in this process. There are difficult issues, but no issue is insurmountable,” she said.
The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed in October and would replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which is composed of the province of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, including the cities of Marawi and Lamitan. (Mindanao Examiner)
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