Amid facilitator row, govt insists talks with MILF will resume January

Saying Malaysia is likely addressing the facilitator dispute, government negotiators on Tuesday expressed confidence peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume in January 2011. Chief government negotiator Marvic Leonen said Malaysia is aware of both sides' concerns, particularly the government's earnest desire to have the issue resolved soonest. "We still remain optimistic that talks with the MILF will resume in January. We hope that the MILF can share that optimism," Leonen said in a statement posted on the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) website. He said that while government agrees that the facilitator issue needs to be resolved, it is confident concerned officials in Malaysia are aware of Philippine government’s concerns, which have already been officially communicated. "We understand that the good offices they offer for the talks will take all these issues into consideration. We have informed them that we desire to have an acceptable politically negotiated settlement at the soonest possible time," Leonen added. The government had asked the Malaysian government to replace Datuk Othman bin Abd’ Razak as the third-party facilitator because of his alleged pro-MILF bias. But the MILF had been batting for Datuk Othman’s retention, saying that he has done a good job. MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said there will be no peace talks unless the facilitator row is resolved. Leonen said a politically negotiated settlement is needed soonest so the energies of all can be "channeled to addressing justice, lasting peace, sustainable development and prosperity for all peoples in Mindanao." On the other hand, Leonen said the government wants to discuss with the MILF administrative and security concerns. "Administrative and security concerns do arise while peace negotiations are ongoing. We prefer to discuss these with our counterparts from the MILF as well as work on these issues first. We have however continued with consultations with relevant sectors on many of the issues raised by the MILF," he said. He also invited all concerned sectors to address the problems in the peace process, saying this is all part of “negotiating in good faith." "We think that this is what negotiating in good faith means. It also is the better part of prudence since issues taken out of context do contribute to environments which can only foster more violence. We invite all concerned to help us address the problems in the spirit of finding lasting solutions to a complex problem," he said. — LBG, GMANews.TV