Philippine gov’t, MILF resume peace talks Monday in KL

MARVIC LEONEN: Hoping for peace pact by first quarter. PHOTO BY LYN RILLON

PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines—The Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiators begin a three-day meeting on Monday in Kuala Lumpur in another bid to advance the 15-year peace talks to the homestretch.

The 26th exploratory meeting will mark the 13th month of negotiations under the administration of President Aquino, who has set 2013 as the target for concluding a peace pact with the MILF. It will also be exactly 12 years after the all-out war of 2000 that started in Lanao del Norte.

Chief government negotiator Marvic Leonen had expressed hope a pact would be formulated within the first quarter of 2012 although sources within the MILF said this appeared impossible.

However, Abdullah Mantawil, chief of the MILF peace panel secretariat, said Monday’s meeting and a succeeding one in April would be crucial in laying out the momentum of the talks.

Since December 2011, the peace panels have been meeting on a monthly basis. The meetings were previously held every two months since February 2011.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal has likened the negotiations to “a drama.”  “The nearer one is to the zenith, the more intense the action is,” Iqbal said.

Based on the framework of negotiations adopted by the parties, the crafting of a comprehensive compact is the principal agenda left on the table.

Last December, the parties agreed to craft a formula for the setting up of genuine autonomous government for the Moro people to address their aspiration for self-governance, the core issue for the MILF’s four decades of rebellion.

Major issues up for discussion are power-sharing, wealth-sharing, territory, and interim or transition period.

Earlier, presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Quintos-Deles said the talks with the MILF have been “steadily gaining ground.”

She acknowledged that the negotiations have been facing “very difficult issues” although she assured the public that “there have been major movements.”

The issues, she added, would have a bearing on the shape of the government’s political settlement with the MILF.

“We have firm basis to hope that a peace agreement with the MILF may be attained within the year,” Deles said.

Last January Leonen described the talks as “inching forward.” After three days of meeting last month, he said they have “moved several feet away.”