KUALA LUMPUR - As negotiating panels of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) inch closer to signing the fourth and final annex of the Framework on the Bangsamoro, the MILF said it would become a “social, more democratic force that shuns the use of arms once a final peace agreement is signed."
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said a breakthrough might come either Saturday or Sunday.
The two panels are negotiating two documents at the talks being held at the Palace of Golden Horses in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: the normalization annex and the addendum on the Bangsamoro waters.
The talks being brokered by Malaysia, now on its third day, aim to end the decades-old Muslim insurgency in western Mindanao.
Pending the final details of the normalization annex which outlines the decommissioning of arms by MILF combatants and other armed groups in the region, Iqbal intimated that there will be no surrender of arms by the MILF.
Instead, firearms of the MILF will be under the custody of a third party.
Aside from the issue of arms, the normalization annex will also contain socio-economic programs for those living in the proposed Bangsamoro territories.
The addendum on Bangsamoro waters meanwhile will outline the jurisdiction of the envisioned Bangsamoro government over water resources in its areas.
If both documents are signed during this round, another document, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, will follow.
Once these are completed, the Bangsamoro Transition Commission will submit its draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to Congress for ratification.
Sen. Koko Pimentel arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Friday to give moral support to the panels but cautioned against overpromising commitments.
“Don’t overpromise because Congress will have to pass a law that is constitutional,” Pimentel said.
Pimentel added that the ministerial form of government proposed for the Bangsamoro government would not require constitutional change because it is akin to creating a local government unit.
Other legislators and some Cabinet secretaries are expected to arrive Saturday.
Other legislators and some Cabinet secretaries are expected to arrive Saturday.
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda assured that the peace negotiations are inclusive of all Bangsamoro groups.
Presidential Peace Adviser Ging Deles recognized the fact that there may be some groups who are not supportive of the negotiations with the MILF. However, there are mechanisms in place that will deal with them, she said.
"We have learned from the lessons of the past, that's why we have this Annex on Normalization. The term normalization has in fact been coined because post agreement, what happens to communities, to the fighters is something that needs to be planned out," she said in a statement published on the Facebook page of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
"We have learned from the lessons of the past, that's why we have this Annex on Normalization. The term normalization has in fact been coined because post agreement, what happens to communities, to the fighters is something that needs to be planned out," she said in a statement published on the Facebook page of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
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