Government-MILF peace talks to resume before yearend

MANILA, Philippines - Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis disclosed yesterday that formal peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiators would resume before the year ends.

Seguis, chairman of the government peace panel said the Agreement on the Civilian Protection Component of the International Monitoring Team (ACPC-IMT), which he signed with MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal last Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, is part of the confidence-building measures set by the government and MILF peace panels to create a lasting peace in the country, especially in Mindanao.

“We are (moving) towards that direction. The next round of talks is the reopening of formal peace negotiations. The venue of the meeting will be in Kuala Lumpur,” Seguis said.

Malaysia is the facilitator of the peace talks, which collapsed in August last year after the botched signing of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the MILF and the Arroyo administration.

Seguis said the government and MILF peace panels are just waiting for the Malaysian government to set the resumption of formal peace talks.

Newly installed Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Annabelle Abaya said that preparations are in full swing for the reopening of peace negotiations with the MILF.