‘I’m still chief government negotiator’

COTABATO CITY — Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza said the other day that he is still the government’s chief negotiator with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Dureza said he will continue to initiate back-channel dialogues with his MILF counterparts to resolve security problems in areas covered by the ceasefire.

"I have not received any notice yet from President Arroyo that I have been replaced as chairman of the government’s peace panel negotiating with the MILF," he said.

Dureza said Presidential Assistant for Special Concerns Norberto Gonzales performed only an "interim function" when he signed, on the government’s behalf, the May 7 accord with the MILF in Kuala Lumpur. — John Unson