Government finalizing papers for Kuala Lumpur meet with MILF

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Government peace negotiators are finalizing documents before facing the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) at the negotiating table in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Jesus Dureza, chairman of the government peace panel, said they are submitting the documents to the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (COCIS) in preparation for the planned meeting with the MILF.

"It is more on the substantial agenda items which are actually a draft of what could be an outline of the final peace agreement," he said.

Dureza said they still have to discuss the documents which would be presented to the MILF to convince the separatist rebels to sign a peace agreement.

The final agreement would encompass a political settlement, ancestral domain and other substantial issues, he added.

Meanwhile, some MILF rebels will be charged in court with multiple murder and frustrated multiple murder for taking part in an attack in Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte last Dec. 26.

Zamboanga del Norte police commander Chief Superintendent Simeon Dizon said 13 people were killed and 12 others wounded after government troops repelled the MILF rebels.

However, Dureza said the situation has been "contained" and that the ceasefire was "holding," as the MILF accused the military of massing troops in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao.

Dureza flew to Siocon Wednesday to assess the situation and to investigate the complaints by the police and military that the MILF had been responsible for the attack.

Troops are hunting down the separatist rebels who are believed to be holding out in the jungle in the Zamboanga Peninsula, said Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya, Armed Forces Southern Command chief. –Roel Pareño