Drilon: Transparent negotiations helped seal peace deal

Senator Franklin Drilon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Franklin Drilon praised the recently crafted peace framework between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine Government (GPH) saying it was made through transparent consultations with the stakeholders of Mindanao.

“The negotiations, in my view, are characterized by transparency and proper consultations with the people of Mindanao which are very essential for a peace pact to be fully and effectively implemented,” Drilon said in a statement.

He added that the framework agreement ” would pave the way for a final and lasting peace and will open doors of opportunities for much-needed livelihood and socio-economic programs in the entire Mindanao.”

President Benigno Aquino III announced Sunday that the peace negotiations between the MILF and the GPH has been successful. The MILF has been fighting a decades-long insurgency for the creation of a separate Moro state.

A Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain was previously signed in 2008, but was however brought before the Supreme Court for lack of transparency and later declared unconstitutional.

Drilon said Aquino was inviting the public to examine the agreement and to engage in public discourses before the agreement will be signed on October 15 by Aquino and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.