Government, MNLF begin formal meet

MANILA, Philippines - Representatives of the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have been holding a five-day meeting since Monday to review proposed amendments to Republic Act 9054, the law creating the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The ARMM covers the provinces of Lanao, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao and the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Basilan.

Presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Quintos-Deles said the government is committed to implementing the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF.

In her welcome remarks, Deles thanked the Indonesian government for continuously supporting the peace process.

The series of meetings, hosted by the Indonesian embassy, also covers further study of the agreement to set up the Bangsamoro Development Assistance Fund (BDAF) and the tripartite monitoring of the implementation of the peace pact.

The output of the legal panel meetings will be reported in the next tripartite meeting.

The legal panels were formed based on the agreement during the third tripartite meeting between the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the government and the MNLF in March last year.

The panels have been tasked to transform the common proposals between the two parties into legal form and to arrive at common grounds to move forward on the issues for further study.

Heading the government panel is Justice Undersecretary Leah Tanodra-Armamento, with Regional Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo, Environment Assistant Secretary Anselmo Abungan and lawyer Ala-uya Ala of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, as members.

The MNLF legal panel is led by lawyer Randolph Parcasio, and composed of Umbra Jainal, former solicitor general of ARMM, Yasser Lumbos, Ulka Ulama, Rexie Bugarin, Mohammad Ali Guro, and John Anthony Lim.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) has started disseminating Yes for Peace survey forms to public schools nationwide.

Assistant Postmaster General for Operations Mama Lalanto, a former commissioner of the Regional Consultative Commission that drafted the ARMM Law, recalled that PhilPost has treated Yes for Peace mail as official business as far back as 1995 when its board of directors adopted the campaign as its contribution to the people’s participation in the peace process.

An organizer of the civil society group said that beyond being a mere survey, Yes for Peace can actually provide a democratic basis for the government’s target to end all hostilities.