Gov't, Muslim rebels agree on terms for normalization annex

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government and the largest Muslim rebel group have agreed on the Terms of Reference (TORs) for the mechanisms that will be put in place for the transition of 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) into productive civilians, official said today.

Government of the Philippines (GPH) chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said the TORs for the Annex on Normalization was reached when they met with MILF counterpart led by Mohagher Iqbal during an executive session in Malaysia last Saturday.

The TORs include those for the Joint Normalization Committee, the Independent Decommissioning Body, and the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission.

"These bodies will support the normalization process through which MILF forces can transition to productive civilian lives and participate in governance reform," Ferrer said.

"A body will be created to study the meaning of reconciliation and justice for the people in Mindanao in order for us to make the healing process as comprehensive as possible," she added.

Ferrer said both parties also agreed on and initialed the introductory text to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) during their meeting in the Malaysian capital.

The CAB will be officially signed on March 27 at the Malacanan Palace.

According to the panel chair, the initialed document identified the component parts making up the CAB, reiterates the goals of the peace negotiations, lays down the general principles that would guide the implementation, and thanks the main actors who played a role in reaching the agreement.

Ferrer said that enormous work awaits both parties after the CAB signing.

"There are many things to be done," she said, adding that next in line is finishing the Bangsamoro Basic Law by March 31 by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and identifying the people who will sit in the mechanisms.

The CAB, composed of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and its four annexes, including the normalization annex, aims to create a Bangsamoro entity that will replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by 2016 and will end the more than four-decade rebellion in southern Philippines.