Government of the Philippines (GPH) peace panel chair Marvic Leonen underlined that \u201cmeaningful autonomy,\u201d which the GPH and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been eyeing to achieve for the Bangsamoro people, is \u201ccollective\u201d and \u201cdemocratic.\u201d
\n\u201cMeaningful autonomy is and has always been a collective effort of all Moros with the various other identities represented by the National Government complementing their roles,\u201d Leonen said in his opening statement during the 28th formal exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday.
\nThe peace negotiations between the two panels officially started on Wednesday, after Tuesday\u2019s executive session with only the Malaysian facilitator present.
\nThe GPH and the MILF have embarked on the substantive agenda, such as wealth and power sharing between the National Government and the envisioned new autonomous political entity (NPE), following the signing of the Decision Points on Principles during their last round of negotiations in April.
\nIn the decision points, both sides have agreed to create an autonomous area with a democratic arrangement replacing the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm).
\nSharing his insights from the recent consultations with various sectors in preparation for this round of talks, Leonen said many of those they have consulted fear whether \u201cthe government, in saying that the status quo is unacceptable, is ready to marginalize the many other efforts done in the past and still continuing in the present in order to sign a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.\u201d
\nAllaying such fears, he stated that \u201cany democratic arrangement, even within an autonomous area, always concedes tolerance.\u201d
\n\u201cNegotiated political settlements with armed insurgencies therefore should be careful that we do not supplant, devalue or marginalize the efforts of the good souls who\u2026 worked valiantly to achieve the laudable aspirations of those who took arms,\u201d he explained.
\nHe also said efforts of civil servants and some political leaders \u201cwho have painstakingly engaged in the many other different struggles needed to put some of the conditions for meaningful democratic autonomy in place\u201d should not be forgotten.
\nLeonen also stressed that economic viability is necessary for political autonomy to succeed.
\n\u201cThere will always be a failure of political autonomy if the conditions for economic viability of the autonomous area are not given as much priority,\u201d he said.
\nThe panel chair explained that for one, poverty distorts the people\u2019s democratic choices as indigent voters tend to be enticed with the offer to purchase one\u2019s vote without realizing how this can affect their livelihood opportunities.
\n\u201cProvision of social services and economic development therefore plants the seed for good governance,\u201d he said.
\nFurther, Leonen said that along with good governance, \u201ceconomic development should enable the autonomous government to be less dependent on national fund transfers.\u201d
\n\u201cLess dependency on national fund transfers matters in the continuing negotiations for competence between the national and autonomous government,\u201d the panel chair added.
\nHe related that the government has been implementing various socio-economic projects that have been neglected in the past.
\n\u201cI am certain that this will complement the political and legal adjustments that we can agree to in this negotiating table,\u201d Leonen said. \u201cWhen we sign a comprehensive peace agreement, the two components will then be in place to ensure that this time around we will have a meaningful and democratic autonomous government in place.\u201d
\nAs the GPH and the MILF continue to discuss substantive issues on the table, Leonen expressed hopes that both parties will come up with a peace agreement soon.
\n\u201cWe remain optimistic that the sincerity of both sides will pull us through what we expect would be difficult conversations ahead.\u201d
\nThe five Armm governors arrived in the Malaysian capital to provide full support to the ongoing peace negotiations, citing the primacy of the peace process especially in Mindanao.
\n\u201cWe are here to provide support,\u201d Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan said. \u201cThere will always be one of us sitting there (referring to the room where the negotiations is taking place) as an observer.\u201d
\n\u201cWe want to show everybody including the MILF that the five executives of the Armm are one in supporting the peace efforts of the government with the MILF,\u201d Tan added.
\nJoining Tan are Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong, Basilan Governor Jum Akbar and Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sahali.
\nNorth Cotabato 1st district Representative Jesus Sacdalan, chairman of the House Special Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation also joined the GPH contingent as a consultant of the peace panel.
\nMeanwhile, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – Peace Committee in Southern Philippines (OIC-PCSP) sent Ali Demirci, political officer of the office of the OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanuglo, to observe the proceedings of the GPH-MILF peace negotiations.
\n\u201cSince our last formal exploratory talks, our panel was naturally besieged by calls, invitations for forums and dialogues not only on the content, concept and rationale of the Decision Points on Principles as of April 2012, but likewise what our expectations were of the next round of talks,\u201d Leonen said.
\nThe GPH panel conducted 96 public consultations with stakeholders about the ongoing peace process.
\n\u201cThe results of these consultations have been presented in part as proposals and counterproposals in this round. As always, we assume that all our positions from both panels should be regarded as works in progress,\u201d he said.
\nhttp:\/\/www.sunstar.com.ph\/breaking-news\/2012\/05\/30\/meaningful-autonomy-collective-democratic-224185<\/p>\n
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Government of the Philippines (GPH) peace panel chair Marvic Leonen underlined that \u201cmeaningful autonomy,\u201d which the GPH and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been eyeing to achieve for the Bangsamoro people, is \u201ccollective\u201d and \u201cdemocratic.\u201d \u201cMeaningful autonomy is and has always been a collective effort of all Moros with the various other identities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.clearwaterphilippines.com\/resort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.clearwaterphilippines.com\/resort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.clearwaterphilippines.com\/resort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.clearwaterphilippines.com\/resort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.clearwaterphilippines.com\/resort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.clearwaterphilippines.com\/resort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.clearwaterphilippines.com\/resort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.clearwaterphilippines.com\/resort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.clearwaterphilippines.com\/resort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}