We’re making progress, say gov’t, MILF panels

Chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The peace panels hammering out an agreed version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) clarified that they are making “good progress” in their work, completing over 70 percent of the draft bill and with only the “hard issues” left to discuss.

“We are down to the hard issues. And I think as far as the government is concerned, we know our parameters… We just have to have that kind of understanding that we have exhausted all possible ways to accommodate new ideas but it is not an infinite line, not an infinite process. It is necessary, at this point when we want this to get to Congress as soon as possible,” government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer told the Inquirer by phone on Thursday.

In a separate interview, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal also said the two panels already have a “70 to 80 percent understanding in the provisions.”

Hardest yet to be settled

“There’s good progress in our discussions. We have settled a lot of issues but the hardest [topics] are the ones we have yet to settle,” Iqbal said by phone.

The two panels are on their eighth day of discussions in Davao City to reach an agreed version of the draft bill.

Both chief negotiators expressed disappointment over news reports that came out on Wednesday which implied a near breakdown of their working sessions on the BBL.

“It is unfortunate because we have made progress and news like that would be published. It’s like we had not moved from where we were three weeks ago,” Ferrer said.

Iqbal also clarified that what he had told Reuters was the MILF’s sentiments when it first saw the revisions made by the Malacañang review team on the draft BBL in June, and that he was not at all referring to the discussion in progress in Davao City.

No meeting in Kuala Lumpur would be taking place this week, as well, both Ferrer and Iqbal said. They would be in Davao City until Aug. 10.

Iqbal said that the Kuala Lumpur meeting is an MILF proposal that has no exact date yet.

Malacañang also called for prudence.

“The declaration of our Philippine panel chair, Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer is clear: both parties are resolute and determined to reach an agreement. It is hoped that we avoid speculations because (both panels) are working on putting together the Bangsamoro Basic Law,” Communications Sec. Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a media briefing.

The BBL was supposed to have been submitted to Congress on May 5 but the revisions and comments made by the Malacañang review team were unacceptable to the MILF.

The government, on the other hand, said the proposed revisions were only meant to ensure that the BBL would pass scrutiny in Congress and that it would not violate the Constitution.

This prompted the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), which drafted the bill, to elevate the matter to the peace panels. Iqbal is the concurrent BTC chair.

Priority measures

Malacañang has listed the BBL as first among the priority measures it has sent to Congress.

But on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda acknowledged concerns from administration allies in Congress that it might not be able to meet the December 2014 deadline to pass the law that would establish a new Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.

But Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang on Friday expressed confidence that a peace agreement could be still inked between the government and the MILF despite the impasse in their negotiations.

“We are still very hopeful that it will be resolved. We want a win-win solution. We have to claim the peace no matter what the price is,” Catapang said.

“We need this. Let’s give way… We don’t need to be too aggressive, too demanding so we can resolve the final issues in the peace process,” he said.

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