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Philippine government and rebels revisit peace deal

Panel to discuss fiscal, government autonomy in Mindanao
Philippine government and rebels revisit peace deal

Filipino Muslims celebrate the signing of a peace deal between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front in this file photo. (Picture by Vincent Go)

Published: July 30, 2014 09:43 AM GMT
Updated: July 29, 2021 07:39 AM GMT

The Philippine government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front will begin 10 days of talks on August 1 to revisit a peace deal signed in March and a proposed law that will create an autonomous region in Mindanao.

The government and rebels last March signed the peace agreement that aims to formally end four decades of war that have killed more than 100,000 people in the southern Philippines region of Mindanao. 

Former government peace negotiator Jesus Dureza told ucanews.com that the government and rebel peace panels will renegotiate the agreement, which "did not pass the constitutional review of [the presidential palace]."

"There will be a meeting, but the details and the venue are yet to be confirmed," said Marlon Peter Dedumo, director of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process in Mindanao.

Chief government peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said the government and rebel peace panels are "finding good solutions to the sticky issues on the draft [basic law]."

"We made progress on two important articles pertaining to fiscal autonomy and the structure of the Bangsamoro government," said Ferrer in a statement on Tuesday.

The rebels remained silent about the coming meeting, but in a statement last week said "the current government proposals will not restore dignity to a people who suffered tyranny and will not secure a peaceful and prosperous future".

Moro civil society groups on Monday also called on the government "to implement faithfully its commitment embodied in the peace deal".

The Sulong Bangsamoro Movement, a coalition of Moro groups in central Mindanao, said the present development in the peace process "brought deep frustration among the Bangsamoro people who have been longing for peace and justice for so long a time". 

"Trust has been eroded," said Dureza, adding it was "prudent to mitigate the risks and make some readjustments while we still can."

The draft Bangsamoro Basic Law was submitted to President Benigno Aquino by a panel composed of government and rebel representatives last April but it took Manila 30 days to review the draft.

In a meeting in Japan last June between Aquino and rebel chief Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, the rebel leader expressed concerns over the government's proposed revisions to the draft law.

Rebel spokesman Mohager Iqbal described the revisions as "heavily diluted" and warned that it might render the proposed autonomous region "less autonomous" than the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

>Aquino's peace adviser, Teresita Quintos Deles, said that "there are difficulties that lie ahead."

"Keep the faith and work with us in bringing to fruition real peace and development in the Bangsamoro," Deles said in a separate statement.

Dureza called on both the government and the rebels to "get the stakeholders on board in the renegotiation." 

"If there are persons on either side who cannot accept these parameters, I now strongly advise them to stand aside, resign and be not in the way in the difficult search for that still elusive formula for peace," Dureza said.

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