GPH-MILF panels tackle draft annexes at 34th formal exploratory talks in KL

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 16): GPH-MILF panels tackle draft annexes at 34th formal exploratory talks in KL
Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, chief of the government peace panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said on Sunday that the 34th formal exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur has made substantial progress on the draft annexes. “It was a very rigorous process with hard and exhaustive discussions but we are pleased to note that the GPH-MILF table has found common language on many of the remaining issues.” The discussion tackled on the draft annexes and the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro that will make up the comprehensive agreement to resolve the decades old armed conflict in Mindanao, Ferrer said. The four-day talks started last Wednesday.

Ferrer said the two panels formed a new team made up of two panel members each and their respective heads of secretariat to flesh out the annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities. The document detailed the political roadmap that will lead to the establishment of the elected Bangsamoro government in 2016, she pointed out. Ferrer was pleased to note that despite convening for the first time, the team on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities was able to complete a draft. The existing technical working groups (TWGs) for the annexes on power-sharing, wealth-sharing and normalization also submitted their output to the panels on the last day of the talks. In all, four annexes will be completed. “We will now be conferring with our principals on all the current drafts produced by the TWGs and elevated to the panels for resolution,” she said.

Ferrer added that while it has been the goal of both parties to complete all the annexes this year, the panels are cognizant of the remaining amount of detail that still needs to be worked out. “Flexibility has always been our trademark in this process. There are difficult issues, but no issue is insurmountable,” Government’s chief negotiator stated. The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed in a much-acclaimed ceremony held at the Malacanan Palace last October 15. Ferrer said it will likewise provide for the issuance of an Executive Order to establish the Bangsamoro transition commission that will craft the Bangsamoro Basic law. This, the government panel said, they expect to come out soon.

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