Bangsamoro deal bigger than Sabah issue, says Palace

From the Daily Tribune (Mar 20): Bangsamoro deal bigger than Sabah issue, says Palace

The agreement to create a Bangsamoro substate is a bigger issue than the crisis in Sabah, so said President Aquino’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda in further belittling the Sabah claim of the Sultanate of Sulu on the Malaysian territory and dampening hopes of the claimants on the sincerity of President Aquino in his calls for a dialog.

The peace negotiation is set to resume before the month ends between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), still with the Palace shutting out any possibility of including the Sulu Sultanate from the talks which was one of the gripes raised by Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III against the government.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the matter of the peace process under the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro (FAB) is a domestic issue and the Sabah claim is related to the foreign policy of the government.

“Remember, from the very start, the matter of consultation with the Kiram family about the peace process, was not discussed primarily because the Sabah issue is a foreign policy issue and, for that reason, it was referred to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA),” Lacierda said.

Lacierda said what remains to be discussed by the panels of the parties on the FAB would be the annexes which is the power-sharing and the normalization.

“We don’t know yet as to when it will start but, hopefully, these are the two issues remaining,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda expressed confidence the panels could complete the two annexes before the end of this month and a comprehensive agreement could soon be signed.

“We are very hopeful that it will be signed, It will be completed. But, as to the timetable, we will leave that with the respective panels. The whole framework agreement with the annexes has one purpose: to bring about enduring peace in Mindanao. So this is much bigger than what we have than the current situation in Sabah right now,” Lacierda said.

Mohaqber Iqbal, chairman of the MILF panel maintains high expectations for the resumption of the peace talks for the completion and formal signing of the FAB. Iqbal said that the ongoing conflict in Sabah is a separate issue from the peace process.

“As far as we are concerned, the peace talks will proceed as scheduled before the end of this month. Why do we have to complicate the issue, that’s (Sabah) another issue,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal said the Sabah issue is a security issue while the peace negotiation is a peace issue.

Iqbal said the Sabah issue is so delicate that it is better to keep silent and instead call for peaceful resolution to resolve the conflict.

“There is no reason for delay, anyway the two governments — the Malaysian government and the Philippine government are trying to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” Iqbal said.

Malaysia is acting as third party facilitator in the peace talks. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak personally witnessed the signing of the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro (FAB) between GRP and MILF peace panels on Oct. 15, 2012 in Malacañang Palace.

Iqbal said that the next round of talks will be the continuation of the discussion regarding power sharing, wealth sharing and normalization.

Iqbal said the issues concerning wealth sharing is already settled but not yet signed while power sharing is almost a done deal.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/item/11921-bangsamoro-deal-bigger-than-sabah-issue-says-palace.html