OIC-brokered government, MNLF peace talks end

From the Business Mirror (Feb 22): OIC-brokered government, MNLF peace talks end

The eight-yearlong review of the alleged non-implementation of the provisions of the peace agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) officially ended last month, and the three parties to the review would move on toward the full implementation of the provisions of the agreement, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) said.

In a statement that quoted parts of the Joint Communiqué after the tripartite review last month, the Opapp said the January 26 Tripartite Review Process (TRP) of the implementation of the 1996 government-MNLF Final Peace Agreement (FPA) officially ended after more than eight years.

“This is an important milestone we have reached, as it sets the convergence of the two Bangsamoro peace processes,” said Teresita Quintos Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process and head of the government delegation during the two-day Fifth Ministerial Level meeting of the review.

The Opapp said the Joint Communiqué of the conference “stated that the TRP ministerial meeting was held to define a road map toward the completion of the Review Process and identify ways and means of coordination and collaboration for the implementation of what they agreed upon during the review process.”

“What this means is that we have finally finished the eight-yearlong review of the implementation of the FPA, and we can now move forward toward implementing the agreements reached this time under the TRP,” Opapp Undersecretary for Programs Yusuf Jose Lorena said.

The burden of implementation would likely fall on the government, which the MNLF has accused of failing to fully implement all the provisions of the peace agreement. The MNLF has previously raised its concern at the separate peace process it was conducting with another Moro revolutionary organization, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), saying that it may muddle the government focus at fully complying with its end of the agreement with the MNLF. The government signed the peace pact with MNLF in September 1996, and began the peace negotiation with the MILF a year after.

The pan-Arabic Organization of Islamic Cooperation brokered a meeting between the two parties in 2008.

The Opapp said that “specifically, the Joint Communiqué identified four key areas that the parties agreed to implement: establishment of the Bangsamoro Development Assistance Fund that will be used for socioeconomic development projects for MNLF communities; the agreement on the comanagement of strategic minerals will be referred to the oversight committee created by Republic Act 9054 for the continuation of its devolution process; participation of the MNLF in the Bangsamoro Transition Commission of the envisioned Bangsamoro Parliament; and creation of the Tripartite Implementation Monitoring Committee, a body that will oversee the implementation of all points of consensus arrived at by the TRP.

Opapp said the communiqué was signed by Undersecretary Jose Yusuf and Iribani Lorena for the government, and Randolph Parcasio and Muslimin Sema on behalf of the MNLF as principals, along with OIC Secretary General Iyad bin Amin Madani for the 57-nation Islamic organization. Deles and Samsula Adju of the MNLF signed as witnesses.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/oic-brokered-government-mnlf-peace-talks-end/