Andanar sees successful peace talks with Moro rebels under Duterte administration

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 17): Andanar sees successful peace talks with Moro rebels under Duterte administration
 

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Monday expressed optimism that the peace talks with the Moro rebels in Mindanao will yield good results under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

”Malaki ang chance of the peace talk na maging successful,” Andanar told the media during the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay at the Café Adriatico in Malate.

Andanar called on the Filipinos to remain optimistic that decades-long struggle in Mindanao will come to an end under the present administration.

”If we become pessimistic, and who else will carry the torch of optimism?,” Andanar said.

”As a matter of fact, our president, wala na siguro pangulo na makakaintindi ng problema ng mga kapatid na Muslim kundi ang ating Pangulong Duterte coming from Mindanao and having also the bloodline of Muslims,” he added.

Andanar said President Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza was working hard to reach out all the rebels group in Mindanao, particularly the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

”Maraming mga backchanneling na ginagawa si Sec. Dureza para magkita ang government at MILF. But the fact that MILF became open, the fact na pumayag sila na dagdagan ang panels from 15 to 21, these are good signs that we are moving forward,” Andanar said.

Last weekend, the GPH and the MILF peace negotiators agreed on the substantive aspects of the peace and development roadmap that was recently approved by President Duterte.

”We should not look back because the sins of the past might slow us down. So just have to look forward and build on the confidence won in the Kuala Lumpur a few days ago,” Andanar said.

Andanar said the peace process with the MILF was also inclusive with the inclusion of the other groups “who felt they were marginalized in the last Bangsamoro peace talks” under former President Benigno Aquino III.

”There is more reason na maisama ang mga Lumads. We can call this a more inclusive Bangsamoro transition committee,” he said.

Under the Aquino administration, the GPH and the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in March 2014 but an enabling Bangsamoro Basic Law was not approved in the last 16th Congress.

Andanar is hoping the new Bangsamoro political entity that will replace the current Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao will be finished before the 2019 mid-term elections.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=914753