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 | GRP-MILF talks: comprehensive pact ruled out; only interim agreement possible
Posted by mpc on 2010-03-07 05:31:08 (6 reads)
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By CAROLY O. ARGUILLAS/MindaNews
DAVAO
CITY (MindaNews/06 March) – A “significant interim agreement” can still
be reached by the Philippine government (GRP) and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) before the Arroyo administration which promised
an “all out peace” in January 2001, ends at noon on June 30, 2010.
A
press statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on
March 5 quoted government peace panel chair Rafael Seguis as saying
that a “significant interim agreement can still be realistically
pursued” before then.
MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal
told MindaNews that they have ruled out forging a comprehensive
compact. “Only interim agreement is possible.”
MILF
senior peace panel member Datu Michael Mastura, said the two panels
“can forge an interim agreement to write a new framework on
declaration of principles and interim arrangements for governance. This
mechanism for transition process would tie over the peace negotiations
to the next administration with timeframe, sequence, periods, during
which joint task mechanism from each side could work out implementation
arrangements.”
“The GRP Panel’s sincerity is never diminished by the limited time we are given… We
remain committed to understanding whatever you have to say, inasmuch as
we hope the MILF Panel would be committed to understand our ideas as
well,” said Seguis.
Seguis
said his panel is exploring every conceivable means, and exerting every
possible effort, to arrive at an agreement that is “just, equitable, honorable, and acceptable to all parties.”
The two panels met on January 27 in Kuala Lumpur to exchange their respective draft comprehensive peace agreement based on previously agreed upon guidelines. No
discussion was made on January 28 as the MILF refused to meet with the
government panel, claiming its draft offered “enhanced autonomy” again.
The two panels agreed to meet on February 18 but this was reset
to March upon the request of the MILF and because the Malaysian-led
International Monitoring Team (IMT) advance party arrived in Mindanao.
The
IMT was redeployed in Mindanao by February 28, after their mandate
lapsed on November 30, 2008, following the collapse of the talks as an
aftermath of the aborted signing of the already initialled Memorandum
of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) on August 5 that year.
The March 4 Q
and A session in Kuala Lumpur “concluded on an optimistic note as the
GRP is now well-clarified on the concepts and provisions in the MILF’s
latest draft document,” said Seguis.
“There were no negotiations but only a question-and-answer session which was cordial and frank. The questions were...Read More |
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Posted by mpc on 2010-03-07 05:31:08 (6 reads)
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OTHER ARTICLES
 Peace panels meet for Q and A session; 2 more NGOs in CPC | By Carolyn O. Arguillas
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/05 March) – The
government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels met
Thursday at the Sheraton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur for a “Q and A” session
on the seven-page extract of the 38-page draft comprehensive compact of
the MILF. The panels agreed that the government peace panel will produce a draft in response to the MILF presentation, sources from both panels told MindaNews.
At the same time, the two panels approved the application of two groups -- the Cotabato City-based Mindanao Human Rights Action Center (MinHRAC) and the Marawi City-based Muslim Organizaon Government... | | Read More | 2010-03-04 21:44:34 | [ 0 comments - 6 reads ] | | | | 'Bakwits' demand security and life support package | February 25, 2010 - Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Maguindanao and Central Mindanao identified security
and life support package as their major concerns during a forum
initiated by Oxfam, a Great Britain-based international NGO with their
local partner non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Kadtuntanya
Foundation Inc. (KFI), Mindanao Tulong Bakwet (MTB) and A Single Drop
of SafeWater(ASDSW) held in Cotabato City yesterday.
The forum was organized for the IDPs to push for their concerns,
demands and recommendations to government and non-government entities
while still taking shelter at evacuation centers and makeshifts.
IDPs cited uncertainty on security at... | | Read More | 2010-03-04 20:27:12 | [ 0 comments - 4 reads ] | | | | Mindanao peace group, poll watchdog to hold forum with presidentiables | DAVAO CITY—Peace votes from Mindanao are crucial in
winning the 2010 national elections. And these votes may well account to more
than 600,000, a huge number of internally displaced persons, who are keeping
their collective support for a candidate who can provide a clear political
platform in ending the conflict in Mindanao.
This is the gist of the Mindanao Leaders Forum with the
May 2010 Presidential and Senatorial Candidates slated on March 16, 2010 to be
held in this city, in time with the celebration of the 73rd Araw ng
Dabaw.
Organized by the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) and the
Citizen’s Coalition on ARMM Electoral... | | Read More | 2010-02-25 23:03:19 | [ 0 comments - 59 reads ] | | | | New IMT head of mission determined to do his job | By ROMY B. ELUSFA/MindaNews
Contributor
COTABATO CITY
(MindaNews/18 February) -- The expanded task of the International Monitoring
Team is “a tall order,” but Maj. Gen. Datuk Baharom bin Hamzah, the new head of
mission of the IMT is determined to “do the job.” Gen. Hamzah, a member of the
eight-man Reconnaissance Team sent by Malaysia’s Ministry of Defense to do a
final check on the facilities of the 60-man IMT contingent that will be sent to
monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the government
and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), announced his optimism on the
peace process in front of around 50... | | Read More | 2010-02-18 22:45:55 | [ 0 comments - 19 reads ] | | | | MPC joins int'l teams in monitoring GRP-MILF peace talks | DAVAO
CITY, Jan. 4 (PNA) -- A grassroot-based Mindanao non-government
organization (NGO) has joined the expanded International Monitoring
Team (IMT) for the peace talks between the Government of Republic of
the Philippines (GRP)and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The
Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) accepted the formal invitation by the
GRP-MILF peace panels to join the IMT, which included other
non-government organizations (NGOs) such as the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Non-Violent Peaceforce (NP). Other members of the IMT include the countries of Malaysia, Japan, Brunei and Libya.
In
a council resolution signed by... | | Read More | 2010-02-15 23:31:42 | [ 0 comments - 26 reads ] | | |
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