Aquino hails power share with MILF

President Aquino on Monday hailed a power-sharing deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), saying a final peace agreement to end the decades-long rebellion was within reach, but warned that “contentious” issues remained.

The power-sharing deal, signed by government and MILF peace negotiators in Kuala Lumpur late Sunday, had been considered highly contentious, with the MILF seeking greater authority over a proposed Bangsamoro autonomous region in Mindanao.

But Aquino, speaking at a press briefing in Malacañang on Monday, cautioned that the next round of negotiations could be even more difficult because it involves convincing the MILF’s 12,000 fighters to hand over their weapons and return to mainstream society.

“This is not going to be simple because here we would have to demonstrate our full trust in each other,” Aquino said.

“When we talk of normalization, this will mean their return to the folds of the law, and one aspect is the safeguarding of their arms,” he said.

Persuading the rebels to give up their weapons will be a “heavy and contentious” issue, he added.

“If they do that, it would be a full demonstration of their trust in our government,” Aquino said.

But the President said he was optimistic that the agreement signed on Sunday night would accelerate the peace process and a final agreement would be signed by the government and the MILF before he steps down in 2016.

A joint statement said both sides had signed “the agreement on the delineation and sharing of power between the central government and the Bangsamoro government” within the projected autonomous area.

Last annex in January

The statement added that both parties were now “confident” that they could soon sign the last remaining annex on normalization and complete the comprehensive peace agreement by January next year.

The comprehensive peace agreement will be the basis for a Bangsamoro Basic Law that both sides will submit to Congress for approval before they can establish the proposed Bangsamoro autonomous region.

“The signing of the annex on power sharing ensures the achievement of a genuine and viable autonomy for the Bangsamoro,” Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said in a statement released on Sunday night.

“It has been a very difficult round but we were able to overcome a lot of obstacles,” she said.

Copies of the agreement, released late Sunday, outline the powers that will be reserved by the national government, those that will be held by the government of the autonomous Bangsamoro region and those that will be shared by both.

Ministerial gov’t

The accord also sets the details of the proposed Bangsamoro ministerial government, which would have an assembly of at least 50 members.

Its Cabinet would be composed of the chief minister, his deputy, and “such other ministers necessary to perform the functions of government.”

The Bangsamoro assembly would include representation for tribal groups, Christian settlers and women.

“A significant distinction will be that the composition of the Bangsamoro assembly will not only be made up of district representatives, as this has been the usual practice, [but] the Bangsamoro Basic Law [will also] provide for other types of seats, including party-list seats, reserve seats, sectoral representation,” said the chief government negotiator, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer.

“And to that extent, we hope that this new structure will enable the participation of different sectors, allow for new entrance into the political process, a process that has been traditionally dominated by political clans,” she said.

According to the annex, the assembly “may remove the government of the day by a vote of no confidence of at least two-thirds of the assembly, in which case the government shall be reconstituted in accordance with the principles of a ministerial form of government.”

While foreign policy, defense, monetary policy, immigration and global trade will remain under the control of the national government, the Bangsamoro government will have powers over agriculture, employment, urban development, public works and environmental protection, the agreement said.

The Bangsamoro government will also have “exclusive powers,” to be exercised within its “territorial jurisdiction,” over 58 items, including budgeting, creation of sources of revenue, and barter trade and countertrade with countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

It could also put up its own corporations and financial institutions, receive grants and donations, and regulate games and amusement operations.

Excluded from the annex was the power-sharing agreement on Bangsamoro waters. Government peace panel member Senen Bacani said the plan was to complete it together with the annex on normalization, which both sides hoped to finish by next month.

“We just need to fine-tune some of the points raised by both parties in order to reach an agreement on Bangsamoro waters,” Bacani said.

Support in Congress

Deles said Monday that she was optimistic that Congress would still support the administration and pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law despite the abolition of the graft-ridden Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), a pork barrel that the Supreme Court had struck down as unconstitutional.

“Both houses (of Congress) have already stated very clearly their commitment,” Deles said in a news conference in Kuala Lumpur via Skype.

“There has been no wavering of that commitment,” she said. “We firmly believe that our political leaders are able to see and rise to see the importance to the country of peace and development. And that even without the PDAF, the peace commitment will be expressed and will be delivered.”

Deles described the signing of the power-sharing annex as “a special gift of the (Christmas) season for the Filipino people.”

It is “an indication of the collective hopes and dreams of our people for a just and lasting peace,” she said.

In a statement posted on its website, the MILF described the power-sharing deal as “hard-earned.”

“With all the fairness and objectivity, the annex on power sharing is the most contentious of the three annexes to the [Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro],” the MILF said.

“In terms of time and effort, not to state the tense moments, spent by the parties, this annex is the most difficult of all,” the group said.

Civil society groups lauded the signing of the power-sharing deal.

In a joint statement, Pailig Development Foundation, Ecoweb Inc. and the MSU-IIT Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao said the breakthrough “emboldened our hope that a comprehensive peace agreement is really just around the corner.”

The groups also hailed the “firm resolve of the peace panels, reflected in their joint statement, to conclude the comprehensive agreement by January next year.”

Support in ARMM

The proposed Bangsamoro region will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which President Aquino has described as a “failed experiment” in the search for peace in Mindanao.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman reiterated an earlier assurance that the current leaders of the region would not hinder the creation of the Bangsamoro region.

“We will give way in case of a peace agreement,” Hataman said.

He appealed for unity in the region and support for the peace process.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu welcomed the signing of the power-sharing agreement, saying it would accelerate peace, development and prosperity in Mindanao.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza called the signing of the power-sharing deal as “an early Christmas gift for the peace-loving people of Mindanao.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it was optimistic that the signing of the power-sharing deal would lead to a final agreement that would end the decades-long Muslim rebellion in Mindanao.

“It’s a welcome development. With this, we can put closure to one segment of our internal security operations through peaceful means,” said Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, spokesman for the military.

“We hope that this will end decades of war in the area and that people living in the areas affected by the war can move on with their lives peacefully,” Zagala said.

MNLF opposition

There was no comment from the MILF’s rival, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996.

The MNLF opposes a separate peace with the MILF. A faction of the group led by Nur Misuari attacked Zamboanga City in September in an attempt to derail the peace talks, but the government crushed the rebels and brought criminal charges against Misuari and other leaders of the attack.—With reports from Marlon Ramos in Manila; Allan Nawal, Edwin Fernandez, Charlie Señase and Ryan Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao; and AFP