OPAPP to mediate MILF, MNLF meet

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) will mediate a meeting between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to resolve their differences before they sit in the Bangsamoro Transi

“They’ll have to sit down together and be able to express their opinions, doubts and difficulties. It will have to be resolved before they sit down ( in the BTC),” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said yesterday.

Asked if the OPAPP will mediate between the two groups, Abella said: “The OPAPP will be in charge of settling those matters.”

On Monday, President Duterte signed an executive order (EO) expanding the membership of the BTC to include representatives from the MNLF.

The BTC, which will draft the enabling law creating the Bangsamoro government, will have representatives from indigenous folk, Mindanao sultanates, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, local governments and other sectors.

The EO increases the number of BTC members from 15 to 21. Ten will be appointed by the President while the remaining members, including the chairperson, will be named by the MILF.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza said the MNLF would be part of the expanded BTC.

“We will have the MNLF headed by Muslimin Sema. They have three seats on the side of the government,” Dureza said.

“We are going to engage with Nur Misuari and listen to his inputs that could hopefully be included on what will be submitted to Congress,” he added.

He said the government would work with all factions to ensure a more inclusive approach to the peace process.

The MNLF was left out in the negotiations during the previous administration. Misuari opposed the planned Bangsamoro Basic Law, saying it would sideline the peace agreement with their group.

‘Handled separately’

Dureza said the MNLF would be “handled separately.”

“There will be two tracks of negotiations because there is a division between the two groups. The plan is that we will have all their inputs...when we submit the bill to Congress,” he told reporters during the Philippines Development Forum yesterday.

Dureza said their target is July next year, ”but if it can be fast-tracked, the better.”

He said the law creating the Bangsamoro entity could be the initial step toward a federal form of government that the Duterte administration is espousing. – With Jose Rodel Clapano, Prinz Magtulis