Manila, MILF power-sharing pact stalled on economic issues

An injured resident is helped by rescuers after a mortar shell believed to have been fired by Muslim rebels hit her house.

Agencies/ManilaThe government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) panels failed to seal a power sharing deal over the weekend as both parties only agreed on jurisdiction on disaster response and administration of justice.Government chief negotiator Miriam Ferrer made the disclosure after the 41st round of Formal Exploratory Talks in Kuala Lumpur.“We have a common understanding on what would contain each party’s jurisdiction in terms of quarantine, disaster risk reduction, human rights, as well as the administration of justice and peace and order. Initially, they want it all exclusive to them [MILF], but we explained that it can’t be the case because these issues are interconnected and have repercussions on the rest of the country. There are no more contentious issues in these,” Ferrer, who is in Malaysia, told reporters via livestreaming.“This [power sharing] jurisdiction cannot be divided in a percentage like the wealth sharing part because it is not monetary. Power sharing is more of defining the area of co-operation and co-ordination, identifying the levels of agreement. We shared the concern that the national government should intervene in disaster response and national security threats,” she added.The GPH and the MILF have earlier agreed on two of the four annexes namely: transitional arrangements and modalities and wealth sharing (75-25% in favour of the Bangsamoro Region).Ferrer said no power sharing deal was signed because there are still unresolved issues on education, culture, human settlement, resources such as land, economic zones, free port zones, and how the Shariah courts will co-exist with non-Shariah courts, among others.“For these issues, we figured that we have to talk about it again because we felt we did not have a common understanding on what is the status quo as far as these issues are concerned. The Bangsamoro law should harmonise with national laws,” Ferrer pointed out.Despite this setback, Ferrer vowed to meet the timeline set by President Bengino Aquino 3rd on the signing of a final peace agreement with the MILF by the end of the year so that the Bangsamoro Region will be up and running by 2016.The Bangsamoro Region will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.“There is a time limit to this process. We need to put the institution in place by 2016. There are many steps to get there, there are hurdles, but we ensure that we will be able to overcome these and reach a consensus. Everybody is on board,” Ferrer said.The government will ask the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) for an inventory of its combatants and weapons before the two parties hammer down a normaliaation deal under the Bangasamoro Framework Peace Agreement.Members of the government peace panel made the disclosure at the end of the 41st round of exploratory talks with the MILF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Normaliaation is one of the four annexes of the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement which was been signed last July 2012. The others are transitional arrangements and modalities, wealth sharing and power sharing.The two sides have agreed on transitional arrangements and modalities and wealth sharing so far.“We will come to the numbers. We need numbers because normalisation means we have to establish a programme that will improve their social and economic situation such as livelihood and skills training. We have to remember that they have been engaged in warfare for so long, and some of them have grown with a lot of fighting around them,” the government’s chief negotiator Miriam Ferrer, who is in Malaysia, told reporters via live streaming.The Bangsamoro Framework Agreement defines normalisation as putting the MILF combatants beyond use.“The numbers may not necessarily be accurate to the last drop, but we have to start somewhere. We need to have a clear benchmark to thresh out our progress and commitments to each other. That will be the deliverables,” Ferrer pointed out.The numbers, Ferrer said, are crucial since normalisation would also mean decommissioning the MILF combatants and the deployment of the Armed Forces.“We are looking at a comprehensive approach here. The decommissioning of forces and weapons will go side by side with what would happen to those weapons, addressing loose firearms and other criminal elements. Cards must be put on the table,” Ferrrer said.The framework agreement is a breakthrough for both parties, considering that the armed struggle of the MILF dates back 40 years when its members were still part of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The MILF eventually broke from the MNLF.“They [MILF] know that they must put their cards on the table. They told us that they need more time to gather true confidence so that there will be no dissent among their forces. It is not going to be easy but the trust on both parties has been maintained,” Ferrer said.The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) urged citizens on Saturday to send more aid for 100,000 people who had fled heavy fighting between troops and Muslim rebels in Zamboanga City, calling their plight a “humanitarian crisis”.The conflict has claimed more than 100 lives since hundreds of rebels from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) entered Zamboanga in a bid to derail peace talks with a rival group.While many of the insurgents have surrendered and most of the dozens of hostages they took have been freed, attention has turned to conditions faced by 118,000 refugees displaced by the fighting.“This has become a humanitarian crisis,” Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman told Agence France-Presse.She said those displaced were staying in 57 evacuation centres, including the city’s main sports complex where over 70,000 people jostled for space and erected tents and shelters fashioned from scavenged materials.“We are trying to organise them by providing them better materials,” she said, but appealed to the public to send in more aid in the form of clothes, food, education materials and toys for the many children among the displaced.The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said in a report there was insufficient supply of tents, cooking utensils and health and sanitation facilities.MNLF rebels entered Zamboanga, a major trading centre with 1mn residents, on September 9, taking over several coastal villages, burning several homes and taking dozens of civilians hostage.President Benigno Aquino 3rd flew to the city last week to take direct command of the operations, with about 4,500 soldiers deployed to the city to push back the rebels.As of yesterday, the military said 102 MNLF rebels and 13 policemen and soldiers had been killed, while over 100 gunmen were captured or surrendered.However, at least 12 civilians had been killed, including a 71-year-old woman whose home was hit by rebel mortar fire on Saturday morning.Police were also investigating whether a bombing far from the frontlines that killed three people late Friday was linked to the siege. Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said that only about 30 to 40 remaining gunmen holding about 21 hostages were engaged in sporadic fighting with troops.