Gov’t, MILF sign terms for 3rd party monitoring team

MANILA, Philippines - The government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels signed the terms of reference (TOR) for a third party monitoring team, government peace panel chairperson Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said yesterday.

Ferrer said she and MILF panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal signed the TOR at the end of the 35th round of formal exploratory talks held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Jan. 21-25.

Malaysian facilitator Tengku Dato’ AB Ghafar Tengku witnessed the signing.

In a joint statement, the government and MILF peace panels said  the monitoring team will review, assess, evaluate and monitor the implementation of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and its annexes.

“The parties are expected to identify the members of the third party monitoring team within one month,” the government and MILF panels said.

Ferrer said the monitoring team would be composed of representatives from local and international non-government organizations to be nominated by the government and the MILF.  The team will continue to function until an exit agreement between the two parties is reached.

Ferrer said both panels also agreed to extend the tours of duty of the International Monitoring Team and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group for another year in recognition of their important roles in the peace process.

She said the extension would be without prejudice to developments in the crafting of the annexes to the FAB.

“Both parties expressed satisfaction on the continuing progress of the discussions on the annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro,” the joint statement added.

“We are confident that the annexes will be completed and signed at the soonest possible time,” Ferrer said.

Both panels also agreed to meet again next month.

 Iqbal expressed the MILF’s determination to arrive at a comprehensive agreement with the government despite the challenges.

“We are not entertaining any failure in these negotiations. Our minds, our hearts are focused that we must be able to conclude this process successfully,” he  said.