Govt, MILF to start 3-day talks in Kuala Lumpur on Monday

Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiators will meet in Malaysia Monday for a three-day negotiation aimed at ending the decades-old armed conflict in Mindanao.
 
The MILF said both sides hope to resolve what it called "the stickiest points" encountered by the parties in recent months.
 
"The agenda of the current session of the parties, the 25th, are not yet disclosed, but it is expected that they would continue the discussion of the sticky points enumerated," the MILF said in an articleon its website.
 
Expected to represent the government are panel head Dean Marvic Leonen, Prof. Miriam Ferrer-Coronel, businessman Senen Bacani, Dr. Hamid Barra, and Yasmin Busran-Lao.
 
To represent the MILF are panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal, lawyer Datu Michael Mastura, Maulana Bobby Alonto, Prof. Abhoud Syed Lingga, and Abdulla Camlian.
 
Also joining the MILF delegation are Jun Mantawil, Mike Pasigan, Mhajirin Ali, and Atty. Raissa Jajurie, who will sit in the MILF Secretariat.
 
The MILF Secretariat lacks one member — Ondel Meling, who it said is still bed-ridden and has not recuperated since 2006 after suffering from a serious stroke due to diabetes.
 
Datu Antonio Kinoc, an alternate member of the MILF Peace Panel, is not also joining the group.
 
"He would only be required to join the peace delegation when a clear agenda on indigenous peoples are up for discussion, especially when his counterpart in the GPH (Government of the Philippines), Mayor Ramon Piang Sr. is also required by the GPH to attend the session," the MILF said.
 
It noted that during the 24th meeting of the peace panels last January 9 to 11, the issues that prominently preoccupied the parties were power-sharing, wealth-sharing and interim mechanism.
 
"(Both sides) managed to come to understanding, short of a formal decision, on the powers exclusively exercised by the central government, but they lacked time to deal on powers which are concurrent to the central government and state government, and powers to be exercised by the state government," the MILF said.
 
It added the two sides intensely discussed the interim arrangement for several hours, but it proved to be a very difficult nut to crack.
 
"Their respective roadmaps have many things in common but they differed substantially on timeframes and the need for mechanism that would ensure perpetuity of the agreement," the MILF said. — KBK, GMA News