Wealth-sharing, other matters focus of next peace talks

From the Manila Bulletin (Jun 23): Wealth-sharing, other matters focus of next peace talks

Malacañang is optimistic the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will accept its proposal on the wealth-sharing formula and two other annexes needed for the signing of a peace deal when peace talks resume next month.

Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the government is ready to hold talks with the MILF after reviewing the three annexes to ensure these will pass legal scrutiny.

The Palace review into the annexes on wealth-sharing, power-sharing and normalization of forces earlier delayed the resumption of the talks with the MILF.

Chief government negotiator Miriam Coronal-Ferrer earlier announced that talks between the government and the MILF will resume early next month to tackle the annexes. The government reportedly proposed changes to the draft annex on wealth sharing, particularly on taxation, fund transfer mechanism and revenue split.

The MILF earlier voiced frustration over the slow pace of the negotiations but the government insisted that it wanted to ensure the peace deal will not suffer the same fate as the botched ancestral domain agreement pursued by the past administration.

The Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2008.

The government and the MILF earlier forged a preliminary peace agreement that seeks to create a Bangsamoro region by 2016.

A transition commission would be formed to draft the basic law that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) by the Bangsamoro region.

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