Peace talks: Lacierda, Deles off to KL

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino sent Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda to Kuala Lumpur yesterday, where the government panel is holding peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, however, refused to reveal the objective of the trip when asked if the two secretaries had a message for the MILF from Aquino.

“The presence of Secretaries Deles and Lacierda is the manifestation of the entire government’s continuing message of its firm and total commitment to the peace process and that all of its concerned agencies are at work to fulfill the aspirations of the framework agreement. They met with the different elements of the negotiations including the panels, the facilitator, the International Contact Group and the newly constituted Third Party Monitoring Team,” Valte said in a text message.

After months of lull, the two panels met again on July 8 with the Third Party Monitoring Team, which was mandated to review, assess, evaluate and monitor the implementation of the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro and its annexes.

The government and MILF panels hope to finish the wealth-sharing annex in this round of formal talks in Kuala Lumpur.

Also on the agenda are discussions on the power-sharing and normalization annexes.

These annexes, together with the framework agreement signed by the parties in October 2012, will comprise the comprehensive peace agreement.