Yasay: Malaysia vows to keep supporting peace process in Mindanao

Foreign Affairs Chief Perfecto Yasay Jr says the Malaysian government remains committed in the Philippines’ peace process with the Moro rebels. NESTOR CORRALES/INQUIRER.net

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia—The Malaysian government remains committed to help the Philippines in its peace process with the Moro rebels in Mindanao, Foreign Affairs Sec. Perfecto Yasay Jr. has said.

The issue was raised during the bilateral meeting of President Rodrigo Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak here, Yasay said.

The foreign affairs chief said the Philippines and Malaysia share the same the concern on “achieving enduring and lasting peace in Mindanao.”

“They had indicated earlier a desire if we would like to continue the facilitator role that Malaysia has played, that we told them maybe it’s not necessary at this point in time because we are no longer talking about negotiating the peace agreement that has been completed. We are looking towards how we could implement that,” he told reporters on Thursday night.

Yasay said the Philippines was looking into the possibility of Malaysia being an advisor during the implementation of the peace agreement with the Moro rebels.

“We are looking at the possibility of seeing how maybe perhaps Malaysia can play a role of being merely an advisor or continue on with its monitory participation with a number of nations involved in the monitoring activities,” he said.

In previous talks involving peace process, the Malaysian government has played as the third party in the peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Signing of peace agreements and various peace talks were also held in Malaysia in the past. IDL

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