MANILA, Philippines -
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process announced
government is hopeful that a comprehensive peace agreement with the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will be completed by December this year.
In a joint closing statement, Chief government peace negotiator Marvic Leonen and his counterpart, MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, said the latest round of talks in Malaysia “ended in a positive note.”
Leonen said he remained confident that the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would be able to complete the three annexes of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) by the end of the year even as the 33rd GPH-MILF Formal Exploratory Talks closed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“The 33rd round of Formal Exploratory Talks between the negotiating panels of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) held in Kuala Lumpur on November 12-17, 2012 ended on a positive note,” the joint statement said.
“The Panels and their Technical Working Groups (TWGs) made substantial progress in crafting the annexes on Power-sharing and Wealth-sharing. The TWG on Normalization was convened for the first time. Its members agreed on an outline of issues and had initial positive exchanges on these matters,“ the statement added.
“The Panels and their respective TWGs will meet again in December to continue working on the three annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro. They remain committed to complete the annexes before the end of the year.”
In a press statement, Leonen said the peace negotiators were able “to end a day early because of the substantial movement in the crafting of the annexes through the efficiency of the three TWGs,” emphasizing that the working groups reached "substantial common points."
In his closing statement, Leonen expressed his optimism on the progress of the process, saying that “there may seem to be many points that are left to the draft annexes produced by our TWGs.”
“But I have confidence that it can be resolved,” he added.
Iqbal, in his own closing statement, shared Leonen’s positive view: “I know everybody exerted their utmost efforts and have managed to settle many things. But the remaining issues are still so many and very hard but with determination and commitment of both parties, I think we will be able to overcome a lot of issues.”
During the closing ceremonies, Malaysian facilitator Tengku Dato' Abd Ghafar Tengku Mohammed said he was hopeful the two panels would be able to finish their assigned tasks very soon.
“I don’t want the rhythm, the tempo and the support that the people have given to the government, the MILF, and the FAB to stop,” Tengku said.
Leonen explained that the FAB were not mere words contained in a document.
“It is a history of struggle, the struggle of the Bangsamoro people. And this struggle was continued in the negotiating table,” he pointed out. “The negotiations are now more than a decade and that each word, each period, each comma contained in the Framework Agreement has saved a life in the future.”
Leonen noted that both parties were determined to “finish the comprehensive agreement, the annexes, as soon as possible before the deadline this 2012.”
After the signing of the FAB last October 15, the two Parties agreed to meet again to craft the annexes that will comprise the Comprehensive Agreement. Leonen said the current TWGs isolated their differences as they identified common points and worked on their reports which they submitted to the government and MILF panels.
The two Parties are set to meet again this December to finalize the text of the annexes. (OPAPP Press Release/PIA9-ZBST/RVC)
In a joint closing statement, Chief government peace negotiator Marvic Leonen and his counterpart, MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, said the latest round of talks in Malaysia “ended in a positive note.”
Leonen said he remained confident that the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would be able to complete the three annexes of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) by the end of the year even as the 33rd GPH-MILF Formal Exploratory Talks closed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“The 33rd round of Formal Exploratory Talks between the negotiating panels of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) held in Kuala Lumpur on November 12-17, 2012 ended on a positive note,” the joint statement said.
“The Panels and their Technical Working Groups (TWGs) made substantial progress in crafting the annexes on Power-sharing and Wealth-sharing. The TWG on Normalization was convened for the first time. Its members agreed on an outline of issues and had initial positive exchanges on these matters,“ the statement added.
“The Panels and their respective TWGs will meet again in December to continue working on the three annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro. They remain committed to complete the annexes before the end of the year.”
In a press statement, Leonen said the peace negotiators were able “to end a day early because of the substantial movement in the crafting of the annexes through the efficiency of the three TWGs,” emphasizing that the working groups reached "substantial common points."
In his closing statement, Leonen expressed his optimism on the progress of the process, saying that “there may seem to be many points that are left to the draft annexes produced by our TWGs.”
“But I have confidence that it can be resolved,” he added.
Iqbal, in his own closing statement, shared Leonen’s positive view: “I know everybody exerted their utmost efforts and have managed to settle many things. But the remaining issues are still so many and very hard but with determination and commitment of both parties, I think we will be able to overcome a lot of issues.”
During the closing ceremonies, Malaysian facilitator Tengku Dato' Abd Ghafar Tengku Mohammed said he was hopeful the two panels would be able to finish their assigned tasks very soon.
“I don’t want the rhythm, the tempo and the support that the people have given to the government, the MILF, and the FAB to stop,” Tengku said.
Leonen explained that the FAB were not mere words contained in a document.
“It is a history of struggle, the struggle of the Bangsamoro people. And this struggle was continued in the negotiating table,” he pointed out. “The negotiations are now more than a decade and that each word, each period, each comma contained in the Framework Agreement has saved a life in the future.”
Leonen noted that both parties were determined to “finish the comprehensive agreement, the annexes, as soon as possible before the deadline this 2012.”
After the signing of the FAB last October 15, the two Parties agreed to meet again to craft the annexes that will comprise the Comprehensive Agreement. Leonen said the current TWGs isolated their differences as they identified common points and worked on their reports which they submitted to the government and MILF panels.
The two Parties are set to meet again this December to finalize the text of the annexes. (OPAPP Press Release/PIA9-ZBST/RVC)
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