The government panel negotiating peace with Moro separatist rebels has assured the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) that it would ensure carrying out the aspiration of the Bangsamoro or Moro nation in the succeeding talks after the two panels signed last year a commitment to pursue the talks to its conclusion.
On January 10 the government panel convened for the first time the full contingent of the IMT to brief it on the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the general commitment of both sides that they would continue with the talks toward a peace settlement before President Aquino steps down in. In the briefing, government panel member Senen Bacani said that “whatever inputs they [both panels] may have, the result will embody the true aspirations of the Bangsamoro.”
“There will be deliberate efforts made in that regard so that hopefully the final product, will have ownership of all of the governed,” Bacani said, saying that “many of the details [of the framework agreement] would have to be done after due consultations with the stakeholders.”
Bacani urged the IMT members to continue to work with the negotiating panels to reach a just and lasting peace in Mindanao. “We have to work together in this because the end goal is the same. The government as well as the MILF, together with all the peoples of Bangsamoro, want a just and lasting peace,” he said.
The 55-member IMT is tasked to monitor the cease-fire, humanitarian, rehabilitation and socioeconomic agreements between the government and the MILF, the statement released by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) said.
The IMT is composed of member-countries Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Libya and Norway. Malaysia formed the IMT after the two panels agreed to an international cease-fire monitoring team. The European Union has two representatives in the team, as well as the non-governmental organizations, which have four representatives sitting in the Civilian Protection Component of the IMT.
The Opapp statement said IMT-7 Head of Mission Dato Abdul Rahim Bin Mohd Yusoff had promised that the IMT would continue to work with the panels “in sustaining the cease-fire and security of the current government-MILF peace process.”
Bacani and fellow government panelist, Yasmin Busran-Lao, led the briefing held at the headquarters of the Army’s 6th Infantry “Kampilan” Division in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao. “With you on the ground and as one of our great partners in committing peace, I think it is very important that you should be kept updated on what’s happening in the peace talks,” Busran-Lao said. She cited the presence of the unit in the talks, saying that since its establishment in 2004, “the IMT has efficiently helped in the significant decrease of recorded cease-fire violations between the government and MILF.”
The IMT operates in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga-Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Palawan, the Opapp said.
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