UN chief hopeful on final peace pact with MILF

MANILA, Philippines - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is hopeful that a final peace agreement will be reached soon between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He said the peace process was one of the issues of national importance discussed when he called on President Aquino.

Ban commended the government’s efforts to promote peace and democracy and inclusive growth.

“It is in this context that I congratulate the government on progress in the Mindanao peace process, particularly the agreement reached between the parties in December,” Ban said yesterday in a press conference at the Manila Peninsula Hotel.

“I hope a final agreement will be reached soon,” he said. The government and the MILF signed this month the annex on power sharing which will comprise the comprehensive agreement both panels aimed to achieve within Aquino’s term.

The annex, signed in Kuala Lumpur at the end of the 42nd formal exploratory talks, is one of four annexes in the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed by the two sides in October 2012.

Two annexes have been previously signed: one on transitional arrangements and modalities, and another on revenue generation and wealth sharing.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said the agreement “elaborates on the nature of the political entity” called the Bangsamoro, which will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and provides the transition mechanism.