Govt keeps MNLF deal’s best features

”To date, we know that there have been statements coming from some MNLF leaders saying that they would like the tripartite process to be completed, and that, yes, they are requesting the OIC [Organization of Islamic Conference] to help—to push that solidarity mechanism that have, in fact, already been started before,” Deles said.

”We fully support that. We have been speaking with the OIC, particularly the PCSP [Peace Committee for Southern Philippines], with regard to this matter,” she added.

According to Deles, they are getting signals that some MNLF leaders support the government peace initiatives with the MILF.

“There are requests for meetings with some MNLF leaders in the coming period. We hope that that will come up with some clear suggestions about how the continued engagement of the MNLF can happen also in this process,” she told reporters.

“The call continues to be that this should not be a matter—that more than a matter of attribution of who got what, the important thing is to think about what will be best for the Bangsamoro,” she said.

Local and international stakeholders have voiced out high hopes for the consummation of a peace agreement between the government and the Muslim insurgents, but a lawmaker called for closer scrutiny of its provisions to avoid conflict with the Constitution.

Malacañang also on Monday thanked members of the international community for their support to the peace process with the MILF.

Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland and international bodies such as the European Union and the United Nations, praised the Philippinesfor signing the final annex to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

“This milestone gives the entire nation confidence that the next steps in the peace process are on track,” Lacierda said.

Biazon said the conditions in the Bangsamoro framework agreement should be examined carefully to ensure that these do not violate provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

“We cannot just make a judgment on that until we have seen and read the whole text of the agreement,” Enrile said, noting that the agreement involves issues on territory and the subdivision of the country.

“Some are talking about cessation, independence, division of the country. And there’s a foreign content here, like the involvement of international players, dealing with the Organization of Islamic Conference, you’re dealing with Malaysia, you’re dealing with the Muslim world,” he said.

Meanwhile, some lawmakers are in favor of granting amnesty to members of the MILF who have pending cases or have been convicted of rebellion and other rebellion-related charges.

“It [amnesty] is a necessary provision under any peace agreement. We trust the normalization annex is consistent with international policies and practices,” Party-list Reps. Sitti Hataman of Anak Mindanao, the wife of Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said.

“We still have to review the normalization annex, but the deactivation and disarmament of forces will go through a process agreeable between the two parties.

We have to understand the cultural perspective on the issue of arms,” Hataman added.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also lauded the signing of the final annex.

“Any step towards peace is a positive step,” Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said.

Villegas said the Catholic Church is willing to extend its help to any of the two parties negotiating for the final peace deal.

Malacañang, however, admitted that more work needs to be done before peace can be achieved in the South.