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MANILA, Philippines?The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has presented its proposal for a transition arrangement that will convert the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) into a ?self-governance set-up,? it was learned.
At the same time, with less than four months before the term of the Arroyo administration ends, the government of the Republic of the Philippines and the MILF are still hopeful that they would be able to forge a peace agreement before June 30.
Despite time constraints, both sides agreed that a significant interim agreement can still be realistically pursued, said Rafael Seguis, chairman of the government peace negotiating panel and foreign affairs undersecretary,
?The GRP Panel?s sincerity is never diminished by the limited time we are given? We remain committed to understanding whatever you have to say, inasmuch as we hope the MILF Panel would be committed to understand our ideas as well,? he said in his opening statement.
At Thursday?s meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Seguis said, the MILF answered the Philippine government?s questions on the concepts and provisions in MILF?s latest draft document.
MILF presented its draft Declaration of Principles on Interim Governance Arrangements, an 11-page extract of its proposed Comprehensive Compact, containing its proposal for ARMM.
?There were no negotiations but only a question-and-answer session which was cordial and frank. The questions were direct and we got clarification on matters we wanted to know more about,? he said.
Seguis said his panel will submit its counterproposal to the MILF draft.
Present in the talks in Malaysia were Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF peace negotiating panel; Datuk Othman bin Abd Razak, chief facilitator; members of the GRP peace negotiating panel, notably Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and former Congressman Roger Adamat; members of the MILF peace negotiating panel; and members of the International Contact Group (ICG).
Prior to the talks in Kuala Lumpur this week, the International Monitoring Team (IMT) was formally redeployed last Sunday after more than a year of non-operation.
?This is indeed an enormous impetus to the peace process, for the presence of the IMT reminds us of the necessity and the inevitability of thrusting the talks forward,? Seguis said, thanking the governments of Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, and Libya for sending their IMT contingents for the Mindanao peace process.
After the question-and-answer session, both sides held separate dialogues with the members of the ICG.
Both sides look forward to the next round of talks in the coming weeks. The next meeting will involve clarification this time on the GRP?s proposed draft.
The peace talks resumed more than a year after hostilities erupted between the two following the Supreme Court?s decision that the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain was unconstitutional.
