High hopes for peace on the of signing of annex on wealth-sharing – Gov.Taliño-Mendoza

AMAS, KIDAPAWAN CITY – Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza has expressed profound appreciation and support to the recent signing of the second annex of the Framework Agreement of the Bangsamoro (FAB) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.
Governor Mendoza said that with perseverance from both the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panels and the willingness to find solutions to the problems in Mindanao the annex on wealth sharing, the second of the four annexes being deliberated by the two sides was eventually signed.

GPH peace panel chair Miriam-Coronel Ferrer with Malysian facilitator Tengku Dato’ Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed and MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal during the 38th Formal Exploratory Talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo Courtesy of OPAPP Website

 “It is but with high hopes that the issues surrounding the wealth sharing could be resolved and agreed by the government and the MILF” the governor also said adding that the action taken by both sides is commendable.

The signing came several months after the annex for the creation of the Transition Commission was forged. The commission was tasked to formally craft the basic law of the Bangsamoro entity, which will be the basis for the governance the moment it will be established.

“To have a fiscal autonomy is one of the aims of the wealth-sharing. It is an intent the two sides would want to agree in a way most acceptable to them”, Governor Mendoza said.

The governor pointed out that everyone in Mindanao seeks for long lasting peace to prevail.  In line with this, she also said that the provincial government of Cotabato is in concurrence with all the efforts in looking for concrete and acceptable solutions to the problem.

The two annexes left for discussion and debate are on the power sharing and normalization. Like the first two annexes, the governor has high hopes that the government peace panel and its MILF counterparts will have doable terms and satisfactory results, despite the heavy issues underlying the annexes.

The discussion on wealth sharing in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday was reported to have undergone heavy pressures from both panels but was also dismissed by Presidential Adviser Teresita Deles-Quinto of the Office of the Presidential Affairs (OPAPP) as normal and typical for peace negotiations. “Along the way one panel could not completely get what it wants, that’s why meetings like these could go even tougher” Deles-Quinto said in a TV interview.

“What is more important is that the talks and the negotiation continue with even more progress”, she added.

The government and the MILF peace panels will be resuming discussions for the power sharing and normalization annexes after the Ramadhan.