Philippine govt signs peace deal with MILF

After four presidents and 17 years, the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed an agreement in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to end four decades of fighting in central Mindanao that has killed tens of thousands of people and helped foster Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia.

Government and MILF negotiators signed the normalisation annex, the last of four documents that make up a comprehensive peace agreement.

At the heart of the last document is the deactivation of the MILF fighting force of 11,000 and the laying down of their weapons.

Officials from both sides announced the conclusion of the deal on the fourth day of the talks, which were brokered by Malaysia.

The government and the MILF peace panels had already signed the annexes on power-sharing, wealth-sharing and transitional arrangements.

It took them 15 months since the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro in October 2012 to complete the four annexes.

The framework agreement is the blueprint for the final peace agreement.

Government negotiators, some teary-eyed, embraced each other after the conclusion of the talks. Chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer hailed the progress and said “good luck to everyone on the next stage, the implementation stage”.

“This will give the just and lasting peace that our brothers in Mindanao are seeking,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters.

Chief MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal called the last hurdle the “most sensitive” and “emotional”, and said it entailed “a lot of sacrifice on the part of the MILF”.

“To pay for real peace in Mindanao, we have to decommission our forces and put them beyond use,” Iqbal said.

“This is more for my people. I am just incidental as I happen to be the chair of the negotiating panel. Everything is dedicated to my people,” Iqbal said.

Asked when the comprehensive agreement would be signed, Iqbal said: “Everybody and I want it very soon. Even tomorrow. But as to the venue, we have not yet discussed it.”

Ferrer said the signing of the normalisation annex marked “the beginning of the end of the process, which is the formal negotiations”.

She said there would be “some more finishing touches that would be necessary for the bigger challenge ahead, which is the bigger challenge of implementation”.

The signing was witnessed by Malaysian facilitator Tengku Dato Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed, the members of the peace panels, the International Contact Group, legislators and other government officials.

“I am very proud to be part of the process. I witnessed the 1986 People Power [Revolution] and now I am part of the process of a very classic peace process. I am very proud of it,” Tengku said.