Lacierda arrived here Thursday afternoon, July 11, along with Presidential Adviser on Peace Teresita Deles, as both parties tried to hammer out an agreement on wealth sharing between the envisioned Bangsamoro political entity and the central government on the scheduled last day of the negotiations.
They did not join the formal talks, which started in the morning. Instead, Lacierda and Deles met with members of the government peace panel team, led by chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, and two members of the MILF peace panel – chairman Mohagher Iqbal and Roberto Alonto — in a separate room. Malaysian Facilitator Tengku Dato' Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed was also present in the meeting.
In that closed-door meeting,
Lacierda "relayed a message" from President Aquino III to both
parties, according to a source who refused to elaborate.
The meeting only lasted 10
minutes, and the panels resumed their session right after.
As of posting, Deles and
Lacierda were still in the venue of the talks, waiting for developments on
whether the annex on wealth sharing – one of the annexes needed to complement
the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro – can be signed.
It's unusual for Cabinet
members who are not directly involved in the talks, to pay the peace panels a
visit in
For this round of talks,
both parties are racing against time to seal a deal on how to share wealth
between the envisioned Bangsamoro political entity and the central government.
READ: GPH-MILF
talks 'still upward struggle' - Iqbal
They could
not agree on the details of sharing revenues from taxes, block grants and
natural resources. The government refused to sign any documents twice – in March
and April
– even after an initial draft was completed in February. At the time, the
government said it needed more time to conduct due dilligence.
An agreement would be a
breakthrough in the peace process, since wealth sharing is tied to the issue of
power sharing, which is also on the agenda.READ: MILF on stalled talks: 'Frustrated, angry'
Frustration
grew after both sides failed to schedule any talks right after the May mid-term
elections as what was originally planned, prompting MILF chairman Al
Haj Murad Ebrahim to write a letter to Aquino.
The delay is
making MILF members anxious even
as a breakaway group is stepping up its attacks
in central Mindanao. http://www.rappler.com/nation/special-coverage/peacetalks/33509-lacierda-deles-malaysia-peace-talks
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