Ferrer takes oath as new peace panel head

MANILA, Philippines - Senior government peace panel member Miriam Coronel-Ferrer yesterday took her oath as the new chair of the government peace negotiating panel for talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles announced yesterday.

Ferrer, professor at the University of the Philippines, replaced former UP law dean Marvic Leonen as chairman of the peace panel after he was appointed associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Deles said Ferrer would continue where Leonen had left off.

“President Aquino has appointed panel member Professor Miriam Coronel Ferrer as the new government peace panel chair,” Deles said.

“Professor Ferrer’s appointment signifies continuity and harmony in the peace talks, which is crucial towards the completion of the comprehensive agreement this December.

“Her appointment as panel chair is well-deserved given her competence and credentials as a peace negotiator,” Deles added.

Deles said Ferrer has been with the panel since 2010 and serves as adviser of the technical working groups on power sharing and normalization.

“Professor Ferrer is a staunch advocate of human rights and an expert in conflict resolution and justice. She served as the director of the Programme on Peace, Democratization and Human Rights and also the deputy director, and subsequently director, of the UP Third World Studies Center at the University of the Philippines,” Deles said.

Ferrer was among those involved in the Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign to ban landmines, Deles said.

Ferrer co-founded the Philippine campaign in 1995 and joined international fact-finding missions investigating violence in Cambodia and human rights violations in East Timor and Nepal.

As peace negotiations move towards the homestretch, Deles reiterated the government’s commitment “to finish the comprehensive agreement with the MILF before the year ends in our endeavor to achieve just and lasting peace in Mindanao that will benefit all Filipinos.”

Both parties are scheduled to meet soon to resume discussions on the annexes on power sharing, wealth sharing and normalization that will make up the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.