MILF says 8 nominees ready for interim body

From the Daily Tribune (Dec 31): MILF says 8 nominees ready for interim body

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has completed its list of eight nominees for the 15-man Transition Commission which is an interim body that will have the primary task of drafting the basic law for the Bangsamoro new political entity that will be formed under a recent agreement between the government and the rebel group. The MILF in its luwaran website said the eight members to the Transition Commission are already chosen but their identities will not be disclosed and will be transmitted first to the Malaysian facilitator “who will officially communicate them to the government through its peace panel.”
MILF Secretariat chairman Muhammad Ameen said the selection process was deliberated on by the MILF central committee during two separate plenary sessions. Ameen disclosed that included in the MILF nominees were one woman, a member of the indigenous peoples (IP), a senior military commander of the MILF and an aleem (learned in Islam). He said the most contentious issue was the slot allotted for Western Mindanao which was only settled after the MILF central committee decided on a draw from two nominees.

The recent negotiations in Kuala Lumpur to flesh out the Bangsamoro framework agreement ended in a technical impasse, according to the MILF, after a disagreement between negotiators over who would lead the Transition Commission.  In choosing its nominees, the MILF said it has set three criteria: sincerity to the Bangsamoro cause, capability to discharge the task, and geographical or sectoral consideration.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu also recommended three noted Maguindanaoans to form part of the Transition Commission to represent the government. In an interview, Mangudadatu said he had asked the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) to include Maguindanaoan lawyers Didagen Dilangalen, Suharto Ambolodto, and Maguindanao 2nd District Rep. Simeon Datumanong to the government nominees. Dilangalen was former congressional representative of the first district of Maguindanao while Ambolodto was active as leader of non-government organizations helping push for the peace process between the government and the MILF.

President Aquino earlier issued Executive Order 120 creating the Transition Commission that will draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law that will serve as basis for the creation of new autonomous political entity and replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. “We give our all out support to the recommendation of Gov. Mangudadatu for the three of them to become members of TransCom,” Mayor Ibrahim Ibay of Parang town, said. Ibay said Dilangalen, Datumanong and Ambolodto can all speak well of the intricacies of the Mindanao Moro issue. According to Ibay, Datumanong’s experience as lawmaker and Muslim leader is beyond doubt. Datumanong has been a public servant since 1960s. He helped craft the 1976 Tripoli AGreement between the Marcos government and the Moro National LIberation Front which wassigned in Libyan capital of Tripoli.

Mayor Ramil Dilangalen of Northern Kabuntalan and president of Maguindanao Mayor’s league, welcomed Mangudadatu’s recomendees saying the province, being the hotbed of rebellion should have enough representation in the Commission. Mangudadatu said he has “set aside” politics in recommending the three Maguindanaon lawyers to become members of the newly-created TransCom.

The MILF is expected to name its eight nominees to the TransCom next week.  Government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel Ferrer said the tasks of the Transition Commission were separate from the process involving the crafting of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, and any delays in the drafting of annexes will not have a significant impact on the peace process.  “The rest of the roadmap is to release the executive order to form the Transition Commission even if the panel is still finalizing the annex. That was the whole idea, to finish the Framework Agreement first in order to get the next mechanisms in place,” Ferrer said.

As indicated in the Framework Agreement, both sides committed to finish drafting the annexes before the end of the year but this deadline has always been flexible, Ferrer said.  “That was the target but we are always flexible. Let’s not rush. It’s the better part of prudence to really go through the documents and the issues to really study this and to really agree. We can mutually adjust the target,” Ferrer said.

The MILF earlier said both sides have managed to accomplish 95 percent of the work on power-sharing; 60 percent on wealth-sharing; 99 percent on modalities and arrangement; and 30 percent on normalization. Ferrer downplayed the alleged deadlock, saying that the “technical impasse” revolved around formulating the right language to use in certain provisions of the BTA in the Annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities. “The government, of course, acknowledges that the MILF is our main partner in this. But we are also balancing that with the government’s policy of inclusivity,” Ferrer said.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/8644-milf-says-8-nominees-ready-for-interim-body