New set of international peace monitors to arrive in Mindanao

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 10): New set of international peace monitors to arrive in Mindanao

The current members of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in the implementation of the government and Moro rebel ceasefire agreement are to end their tour of duty Wednesday and a new set of peace observers will replace them, officials said.

The tour of duty of the current IMT, led by Malaysian military officers, will end on March 12, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said in a statement.

It said that IMT Mission 9 will replace the current group whose mandate will end on March 12, 2014.

Tasked to monitor the implementation of GPH-Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ceasefire agreement, civilian protection component, rehabilitation and development, and socio-economic agreements between the government and the MILF, the IMT contributed a lot in eliminating unnecessary skirmishes between government forces and Moro rebels.

The tour of duty of IMT expires in March but both peace panels agreed to extend its mission until March 2015.

In a statement, the OPAPP said both the government and MILF peace panels agreed to merge IMT sites 4 and 5.

IMT Site 4 is based in General Santos City and covers the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Saranggani and Davao del Sur.

IMT Site 5, on the other hand, is based in Davao City and covers the provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley.

Speaking for the MILF, Von Al Haq said the peace panels also agreed to reduce the number of IMT members to 36, with Malaysia still having the highest number of peace monitors.

“Both peace panels agreed to reduce the current 60 member IMT to just 36 personnel and 14 will be Malaysians, Indonesia and Brunei will have nine observers each, Japan and Norway with two each,” he said.

Mohaqher Iqbal, chief MILF negotiator, repeatedly lauded the IMT personnel for devoting time and energy “so that the ceasefire agreement is fully and effectively implemented.”Al Haq said he was both sad and happy with the departure of IMT-8.

He said he was sad the team is leaving but at the same time happy since it was during the tour of duty of IMT-8 that both the government and the MILF have signed the Bangsamoro Framework and Agreement (FAB) and the four annexes.

Iqbal, on the other hand, said the MILF leadership remains hopeful the Comprehensive Peace Agreement will be signed within the next few days.

Malacanang had said the agreement is expected to be signed before the end of March as stipulated in the road map to peace in Mindanao of President Aquino.

The talks that began in 1997 was aimed at ending four decades of armed conflict in southern Philippines which, according to Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, the first Mindanao Cardinal, was borne out of mistrust and poverty among its people.

The Bangsamoro Transition Commission, which Iqbal chairs, is also winding up its tasks of drafting the Bangsamoro Basic Law that will create a new Bangsamoro government in Mindanao, replacing the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=0&sid=&nid=0&rid=623829