It's crunch time again for the government peace panel.
By Friday, Eidl Fitr, Miriam Coronel Ferrer, peace panel chairperson, has started getting busy entertaining calls and holding meetings, to draw up a draft on power-sharing, one of the two pending annexes of the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement.
On the other hand, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) panel, as well as the talk facilitator, the Malaysian government, has to celebrate Eidl Fitr for about a week.
So the 39th round of the negotiations will begin a week from Friday, giving both panels more time to work on their proposals.
The power sharing annex details the political autonomy of the proposed Bangsamoro government, particularly its relations with the central government.
Under the framework agreement, the central government will have reserved powers on the following:
- defense
- foreign policy
- common market and global trade
- coinage and monetary policy
- citizenship and naturalization
- postal service
On the other hand, the Bangsamoro will have devolved powers similar to what the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) presently has, only better.
Ferrer said the concept would be called "exclusive lease of powers," hinting that these expanded functions would be codified in a contract.
"We take note that the concept of an exclusive lease might be misunderstood by other people. But it simply means that these are devolved powers but overall being still part of the national government," she said.
Part of the agenda for discussion is how to create new devolved powers for the Bangsamoro so that it can raise revenues through taxation and collection of fees.
Other devolved powers will include the administration of justice through the Shariah courts and the design of curriculum in schools, which all should reflect the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.
The negotiations for devolved powers will also cover localized law-enforcement functions.
These functions, Ferrer said, should harmonize with standards set by the central government.
"We always assume that, for most parts, there will be conflict or disputes or standards will be so grossly different," she said. "I think what we can anticipate is maybe some peculiar characteristics that will be adopted in relation to the culture, history, the ways of life in the region."
As in recent negotiations, both panels said the outcome of the next round of talks would remain unpredictable.
The government doubts that the power sharing annex will be approved in this round since the draft they will compose will have to go through a review process. That would only mean talks will have to drag on for a few more months, moving further timetables that could risk the deadline in setting up the Bangsamoro government by 2016.
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