PH-MILF talks in KL Monday to tackle power sharing

OZAMIZ CITY—Power sharing between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will top the list of issues to be discussed as negotiators from the two sides meet in Kuala Lumpur Monday.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the meeting was aimed at furthering consensus on what would become “the flesh-and-bones of a political settlement” to end over four decades of Moro rebellion in Mindanao.

In April, both panels agreed on 10 decision points, including an agreement to create a new autonomous political entity to replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

During last month’s talks, chief government negotiator Marvic Leonen sought to defer further discussions on the power sharing issue so that they would have time to assemble “enough information to be able to produce a clearer position.”

In his opening statement during the April talks, Leonen particularly cited the MILF proposal of listing energy as one of the “exclusive powers of the autonomous political entity.”

Leonen said the proposal “has indeed caused a very involved discussion within the government.”

In Mindanao, at least half of electric power is generated by the Agus hydropower complex along the Agus River, that is  dependent on the waters of Lake Lanao. This lake   is inside  the autonomous territory.

Sulu Sea, which is claimed by the MILF as  a Moro maritime territory, is also believed to contain rich gas deposits.

Iqbal said that in today’s meeting, the panels agreed to discuss how the new political entity would share power with Manila.

The power-sharing discussions between the panels were expected to jump off from the government’s comments on 73 items that the MILF listed as exclusive powers of either the national government or the autonomous political entity, and concurrently shared.

Leonen said the government panel “has engaged the relevant cabinet clusters, departments and initially … the President, regarding the MILF list.”

The decision points already reserved for the national government are powers over defense and external security, foreign policy, common market and global trade, coinage and monetary policy, citizenship and naturalization, and postal service.

These areas are part of the list of powers not to be exercised by

ARMM under Republic Act

No. 9054, which amended the region’s charter.

Under RA 9054, the Regional Legislative Assembly is also prohibited from legislating laws touching on the areas of administration of justice except Shari’a; quarantine; customs and tariff; general auditing; elections; patents, trademarks, trade names, and copyrights; and maritime, land and air transportation, and communications, except those within the region.

But RA 9054 also granted ARMM the power to enter into economic agreements, an attribute the peace panels earlier agreed to transfer to the new autonomous political entity.

Iqbal said the discussions on power sharing should further sharpen the attributes of the new entity to replace ARMM. Ryan D. Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao