Government, MILF map out development program

DAVAO CITY — The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are finalizing the implementing mechanism of the development and rehabilitation program for the conflict-affected areas in Central Mindanao. The development program forms part of the ongoing peace negotiations wherein government has committed to rehabilitate the areas that have been devastated by the armed hostilities between the MILF separatist rebels and the military.

Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, who also heads the government negotiating panel, told The STAR that the two parties shall meet on Nov. 8 to draw up the final details of the program. The MILF will be represented by its development arm, the Bangsamoro Development Agency while an inter-agency committee has also been created for government.

"We already have the framework but there are just other details that we have to work on, particularly on how the projects will be implemented," Dureza said.

The government and the MILF signed last May 7 in Kuala Lumpur an agreement on the economic aspect of the peace negotiations although formal talks are still suspended.

Meanwhile, the joint coordinating committee on the cessation of hostilities of the government and the MILF met anew yesterday to tackle the existing interim peace agreement which has been time and again disrupted by sporadic clashes between the MILF guerrillas and the military forces.

Dureza stressed the need to strengthen the coordination between the government and the MILF to prevent further hostilities on the ground. The local monitoring teams of both panels have also been activated to check on the movements of both the soldiers and the MILF rebels in Central and Southern Mindanao.