Manila deal on wealth-sharing
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Govt, MILF accord covers taxation and sharing of revenues
After toiling some 12 hours on their sixth day of talks, negotiators of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) finally hammered a ‘wealth-sharing’ arrangement between the central government and the future Bangsamoro political entity.
The Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process said the wealth-sharing deal between the central government and the future Bangsamoro Entity was completed at 10.30pm on Saturday.
The deal covers taxation powers for the Bangsamoro government; assured fund transfers from the central government to the Bangsamoro government through block grants; and sharing of revenues from the use of natural wealth, like energy sources and metallic minerals.
The breakthrough comes after a four-month lull in the peace process, and could move the parties closer to crafting a comprehensive agreement that contains the totality of measures that address the four-decade Moro rebellion in Mindanao.
Wealth-sharing is one of the four annexes to the preliminary Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) that the parties inked in October 2012.
The others are power-sharing, normalisation, and transitional modalities. The latter was signed in February.
The parties came to consensus on the wealth-sharing annex around 10.30pm on Saturday, according to an advisory of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).
The negotiators convened around 9.40am on Saturday, hoping to firm up the deal before they return home where expectations have been high, especially among civil society and community leaders in Mindanao.
The 38th round of talks was originally scheduled for four days, beginning Monday.
Within that time, there were three sessions: two among the technical working groups for normalisation and power-sharing, and a panel-level one for wealth-sharing.
On Thursday afternoon, the technical working groups on normaliation inked their joint report, which means the document will be elevated to the consideration of the panels.
Barring a wealth-sharing consensus, government asked for an extension until Friday – and then on Saturday.
An OPAPP photo release showed Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles in a huddle with government negotiators on Saturday.
She arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday afternoon with presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda to impress on the panels the strong commitment of President Aquino on the negotiations.
The six-day talks have been the longest exploratory meeting of the parties in the history of the already 16-year negotiations.
The exploratory meeting that produced the 13-page text of the landmark preliminary accord, the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), took five days to complete.
It also closely resembled the length of the session that led to the firming up of the FAB.
