THE EXTENDED SIEGE of Zamboanga City by supporters of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari may have delayed the peace process with the rival Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but the Philippine government and the MILF both agree that there is no turning back in the formation of a new BangsaMoro entity to replace the current autonomous government.
“There’s no turning back—both panels agree. Na-delayed talaga but we’re doing parallel tracks where we have discussed the putting up of structures for the normalization component,” GPH Panel Chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said in a press briefing, Tuesday.
The Normalization Annex will address the security concerns of both the government and the MILF such as the decommissioning of weapons and combatants, and measures which will usher in reconciliation and justice.
MNLF rebels identified with Misuari laid siege to Zamboanga City beginning September 9, the eve of the peace talks between government and the MILF in Kuala Lumpur. Misuari’s group has been complaining that it has been sidelined in the talks with the MILF, a rival group that broke away from the MNLF in 1979.
Misuari had also complained that the government had reneged on commitments it had made to his group in the Final Peace Agreement it signed with the MNLF in 1996.
The government declared the Zamboanga siege resolved over the weekend wit the rescue of the remaining civilian hostages in the hands of the MNLF. Clearing operations continue however for possible rebel holdouts in the city.
Interestingly, the MILF and the government are currently engaged in talks on the ‘normalization’ component, a critical phase of the talks which was largely left unresolved in the case of the MNLF peace talks in 1996.
While the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF provided for the integration of several thousand qualified MNLF fighters in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, the question of how to deal with thousands of other unqualified MNLF fighters and their firearms had been largely left hanging. As a result, the MNLF fighters continue to hold on to their firearms and maintain camps 17 years after the MNLF peace agreement was signed.
Coronel-Ferrer said that they have set a “working date” sometime on November where they will meet again and define functions and representation of the new Bangsamoro Government in Bandung, Indonesia.
She also said that it is natural for people to be disappointed with the delay in the completion of the Annexes and even the “rise in violence in-between.”
“This expressed hope motivates the parties to work harder in order to reach common ground on the remaining issues in the Power Sharing and Normalization Annexes,” said Coronel-Ferrer.
The Annex on Revenue Generation and Wealth Sharing was eventually signed in July.
Coronel-Ferrer said they had a hard time reaching consensus on the Power Sharing Annex. The Power Sharing Annex provides a list of powers that will be devolved to the Bangsamoro Government or exercised jointly or concurrently with the Central Government.
“(Ang) mahirap na part (ay ang) Power Sharing. We made sentences out of the list,” she said adding that they did this “to better define the terms.”
Also, Coronel-Ferrer said that the MILF has introduced some statement(s) on the structure of government and that the government panel supported it.
When asked on the prospects of the enactment of the Bangsamoro Government Organic Law in Congress, she said that they have maintained close links with members of the Lower House to ensure the passage of the Organic Law which “at the earliest would be January to March, next year.”