Gov’t-MILF peace talks back on track

Miriam Coronel-Ferrer. PHOTO FROM OPAPP.GOV.PH

OZAMIZ CITY—After a four-month lull in the negotiations, the government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are returning to the negotiating table and will be meeting early next month in Kuala Lumpur, according to Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, the head of the government peace panel.

“The panel chairs have already agreed on a date early next month to further discuss the annexes on wealth-sharing, power-sharing and normalization,” Ferrer said in an e-mailed statement to the media.

She said she and Mohagher Iqbal, the chief rebel negotiator, had discussed the matter of resuming the talks when they met informally at the Oslo Forum 2013 organized by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD) from June 18 to June 19.

‘Chance meeting’

However, while he admitted meeting Ferrer in Oslo in a “chance encounter,” Iqbal said there was no tentative date agreed upon for the resumption of the talks.

“I was there and the (Malaysian) facilitator was there. It was very clear that it was not a formal meeting but a chance meeting, just a social meeting,” he said in an interview.

Iqbal would not elaborate on what he and Ferrer had discussed, but he said the “chance meeting” did not change his pessimism about the peace process because of the government’s alleged backtracking on some agreements.

Although the agreement was initialed last February, the government is seeking to subject the annex on wealth-sharing to “some refinements” after a due diligence review.

Among other things, the government said it does not want to peg grants to the proposed future “Bangsamoro” government as a percentage of the total annual budget.

Rather, it wants to peg the grants to a specific fund source, in keeping with generally accepted fiscal management practice, Ferrer explained earlier.

The MILF also pointed to some changes being made in the percentages of some wealth-sharing items. In its original proposal, the MILF sought a 75-25 sharing scheme in favor of the future Bangsamoro government.

‘Backtracking’

Iqbal said the new position of the government constituted “backtracking” and that this has caused the delay in the resumption of the talks as the rebels are insisting on the terms of the original document that was signed.

“The reason for the delay is very easy to understand, the backtracking of government and the change in their position. It’s the cause of the delay and not the MILF,” he said.

Apart from wealth-sharing annex, also still to be completed are the annexes on power-sharing and normalization. So far, only the annex on transitional arrangements and modalities is done.

The four annexes plus the “Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro,” which was signed on Oct. 15, 2012, make up the comprehensive peace agreement designed to end the decades-old Muslim insurgency in Mindanao.

A news release from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) quoted government peace panel member Senen Bacani as saying the comprehensive agreement “will be signed in a month or two.”

Not before Sona

Ferrer earlier predicted it might happen before President Aquino delivers his state of the nation address at the opening of Congress on July 22.

But Iqbal said this might not be possible because of the huge difference in the positions of the two sides.

“I don’t want to make any comment on the draft, the most I can say is that the differences are still that wide,” he said.

Despite the drawback, Iqbal said the MILF was not withdrawing from the peace negotiations, but warned that time was running out.

“It’s not a question of waiting but of the people getting quite frustrated. I’m afraid of the slow-paced negotiations because we cannot control everything. There are forces we cannot control inside and outside the government and MILF,” he said.

He warned that if the annexes are not finished in time and the comprehensive agreement not signed soon, a problem would “surely occur” which would threaten more the security of Mindanao.

Hardliners

“I admit that in an organization, there are hardliners and there are those who do not believe in any negotiations,” he said.

He said some members of the MILF are saying that the government cannot be trusted because it changes its position at will.

“Their stand might be unfounded but the sad thing is the scarcity of evidence the Aquino government’s daang matuwid campaign is succeeding,” he said.