Government, MILF to iron out kinks on ancestral domain issue this week

DAVAO CITY — The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are set to meet again in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this week in an effort to finally iron out remaining kinks in the contentious issue of ancestral domain.

"It would be anytime this week. The two panels will resume talks in Kuala Lumpur and the agenda would include the remaining issues on ancestral domain," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told The STAR.

Kabalu said the technical committees of the negotiating panels for both parties will tackle matters preparatory to the possible signing of an agreement on ancestral domain within the next few months.

"They shall fine-tune whatever would be agreed upon preparatory to signing of the agreement on ancestral domain," he said.

The government is hoping that a final peace agreement can be forged before the year ends. If an agreement on ancestral domain is inked soon, it will pave the way for the resumption of formal talks.

Formal peace negotiations bogged down in 2001 following strong disagreements on issues involving ancestral domain and who would manage the proposed economic and development package for the Bangsamoro populace in the South.

Talks have also taken place on the side between the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) for a possible agreement with regards to the concessions that have to be granted to the former.

Chief government negotiator Silvestre Afable Jr. earlier said there will be no final peace agreement with the MILF unless certain provisions in the September 1996 peace accord between the government and the MNLF are amended.

Afable pointed out that the MILF and the MNLF refer to almost the same territories and areas which were included in the concessions granted to the MNLF under the 1996 peace pact.

"The MILF and the MNLF must come to an agreement so that there would not be any overlapping of concessions," Afable said.

The 12,000-member MILF began its armed campaign for a separate Mindanao state in 1978 after breaking away from the MNLF, the largest Muslim separatist rebel group before it signed a peace pact with the government in 1996.

After that treaty the Philippines created a Muslim self-rule area in the south called the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. — Edith Regalado