The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have yet to sign a final peace agreement, but this early President Benigno Aquino III is asking Congress to pass the law that will be crafted to implement it.
"I hope you can pass the law before 2014 ends," Aquino told Congress in his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 22. This way, he said, the Bangsamoro region can be set up in time for the 2016 elections.
The panels finished the wealth-sharing annex on July 14. They expect to finish the remaining two more annexes within the year.
Aquino vowed that "whatever we agree upon, the national government can and will implement."
The President celebrated the progress of the peace talks. It was successful, he said, because both camps were willing to meet halfway.
"We need mutual trust in a peace process. We recognize that both camps want to make the peace talks successful," he said.
He gave his word to the MILF. "Pinalaki po ako ng aking ama na may isang salita," he said.
To those criticizing the peace process, the President said: "Sa mga pumipigil at naghahasik ng pagdududa, 'Masasabi mo bang Pilipino ka na may malasakit sa kapwa Pilipino.'"
The previous administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo attempted a deal with the MILF —the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain — but it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
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