MANILA, Philippines - The government hopes to finish the wealth-sharing annex of the proposed peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in its next round of talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this month.
“We’re both very conscious that we do want to finish (the annex) as soon as possible, that we do need to find a compromise to be able to put something in the text and sign on to it,†government peace panel head Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said yesterday.
Ferrer told Rappler.com that the annex on wealth-sharing is one of the three remaining annexes that are expected to be completed by the government and the MILF panel soon.
She said together with the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro and the annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities, the three annexes will comprise the comprehensive agreement on the Bangsamoro.
“It’s in this stage that both parties want to come to terms with the remaining issues, specially pertaining to the wealth-sharing annex that has taken a long time to process,†Ferrer said.
Ferrer explained that both parties knew that the document on the wealth-sharing annex had to be brought back to their respective principals for final review.
She denied media reports that called the four-month lull in the negotiations a stalemate.
“There have been communications going on formally and informally through the facilitator and other channels. The best indication is we’re actually meeting again face to face to hammer out the issues,†Ferrer said.
She disclosed that the government proposal on wealth-sharing provides a better financial aspect than what exists in the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
She said there will be more power of taxation and a more defined sharing of government resources in keeping with the goal of having a strong and viable autonomous Bangsamoro government.
“If things go well, we might be able to have a good working draft of the power sharing annex with only few items left for resolution,†Ferrer added.
She also announced that the Third Party Monitoring Team has been invited by the two panel chairs to join them in Kuala Lumpur next week for introductions and to convene for the first time as the third-party monitor that will review, assess, evaluate and monitor the implementation of the framework agreement and its annexes.
“The convening of the Third Party Monitoring Team is another concrete indication that all is well in the peace process,†she said.
Ferrer said that the Terms of Reference signed in January 2013 by the two parties indicated the Third Party Monitoring Team would have a chairman, two members from international non-government organizations, and two other members from domestic NGOs.
She said the identity of the members would be formally announced during the talks.
Ferrer called on stakeholders to be more vigilant amid disinformation surrounding the peace process.
Confidence building
The confidence building measures of the government and MILF continue with the implementation of the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program where the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) would initially train 1,000 Muslim rebels on technical and vocational courses.
Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Task Force Sajahatra Bangsamoro chairman, and Mohammad Shuaib Yacob, head of the MILF Task Force Sajahatra, convened yesterday the second Joint Coordination Committee meeting between the government and MILF in Cagayan de Oro City to discuss the updates on the implementation of the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program components specifically for health, education and livelihood. Since the program was launched on Feb. 11, 2012 in Sultan Kudarat that was spearheaded by President Aquino and MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, Almendras said they have sent to school 639 students from the MILF, Christian groups and indigenous peoples through the Commission on Higher Education’s grant program, aside from the 1,000 new TESDA scholars.
Yacob also reported that they have identified the 50 madaris schools that would avail of the P250,000 grant from the Department of Education and would be ready for the start of the school year in August.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. is currently processing the 11,000 MILF beneficiaries so the Bangsamoro communities could avail of basic health care services and facilities in the Bangsamoro communities, Almendras said.
The Department of Health will also sponsor medical, surgical and dental missions in these communities. Physicians in the Bangsamoro communities have offered their services for free during the medical missions. With Aurea Calica