MILF ‘frustrated, angry’ over stalled peace talks

Talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front deadlocks, 8 months after the signing of a framework agreement. The impasse: wealth and power sharing. MILF peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal says the government proposed changes to “30-40%” of the document. Government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer Ferrer says the two most contentious issues are the formula for wealth-sharing and finding a guaranteed source of block grants for the proposed Bangsamoro region. Ferrer says the government wants the comprehensive agreement to find a “fixed and guaranteed source” such as the internal revenue allotment for local government units. But the MILF does not want “to be treated like another government agency that is part of the General Appropriations Act.” The MILF has also been adamant in stressing that the Bangsamoro region should not have lesser powers than what the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) enjoys, since the MILF believes the ARMM is powerless in the first place. Iqbal says, “We are really pressed for time.” It says the Transition Commission tasked to draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law needs up to two years to finish its work. That gives lawmakers only one year to pass the law in the 16th Congress before President Benigno Aquino III steps down from office in June 2016. Once the law is approved by Congress, the Bangsamoro people will approve or reject it through a plebiscite.

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