MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Philippine President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III said today that he expects the on-going peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberations Front is prospering, following the signing of the agreement on power-sharing annex.
According to the official, although both sides signed the Framework Agreement last year, they still have a huge task in hammering out the details of the annexes which will take time.
Asked if the government and MILF negotiators remain on track in establishing Bangsamoro government by 2016, the President said: “Lahat tayo gusto nating mas maaga mapirmahan ito pero hindi nga ganoon kadali, reason of itong timeframe.”
“Palagay ko ma-a-accelerate ang process para naman makaupo na sila by 2015, after the enactment of the enabling law.”
Aquino stated that after power-sharing, negotiators must iron out normalization, the last hurdle in the talks.
“Medyo hindi ganoon kasimple iyon dahil talagang dito lalabas iyong buong pagtitiwala o ide-demonstrate nito ang buong pagtitiwala ng lahat,” the President said.
In a press briefing, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said in a teleconference from Malaysia that they intend to meet in January to complete the annex on normalization as well as the addendum, which is the timeline.
Ferrer also said that the committee on wealth-sharing has been working on the text for the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law following the signing of the wealth-sharing annex this year.
Negotiators have to work double time given the previous delays, Ferrer said. She added however that they are still working on the same timeline which is to establish the Bangsamoro government and hold the first elections in 2016.
In October last year, the government and the MILF signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro aimed at ending decades-long conflict in Mindanao that resulted to a huge number of casualties and instability in the region.
