Bangsamoro talks extended by one day

 PHOTO FROM OPAPP.GOV.PH

OZAMIZ CITY. Philippines—Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front negotiators have agreed to extend by one day the 38th round of talks in Kuala Lumpur in an effort to close the gap between their respective positions on wealth-sharing between the national government and the proposed Bangsamoro autonomous political entity, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said by text message to reporters on Friday.

The current round of negotiations, which started Monday after a four-month lull, was originally scheduled to end on Thursday.

“We have extended the talks up to today (Friday),” Ferrer said.

According to an advisory issued by the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP), the 38th round of talks was divided into three separate sessions to tackle specific issues.

The  government and MILF technical working groups  discussed the matter of power-sharing and normalization while the main panels talked about the annex on wealth-sharing.

By Thursday, the TWGs had signed a joint report, which the main panels were to study for possible consideration or review, Ferrer said.

“The parties still need to find good compromises on key issues like taxation and revenue share,” she said, explaining the decision to extend the talks.

Wealth-sharing is among the four Annexes to the preliminary Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and it has proven to be the stickiest issue.

“We seem to be caught up in the trees and missing the forest. Hopefully today (Friday) we will find solutions but we need flexibility on both sides,” Ferrer said.