Philippine government urged to complete peace agreement on restive south

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Wednesday urged the Philippine government to complete the peace agreement on the proposed Bangsamoro region to ensure long-standing peace in the south. Speaking at the 27th Asia-Pacific Roundtable forum, MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim expressed sense of urgency in the completing of annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which was signed by MILF and the Philippine government in October last year in a landmark breakthrough to end the decades-long armed conflicts in southern Philippines. Every minute of delay in finishing the Annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro poses a threat to peace," Murad said. "Every minute of delay in putting closure to the peace negotiations decreases the optimism generated by the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro." After the signing of the preliminary peace agreement, MILF and the Phillipine government have embarked on talks of the annexes on wealth-sharing, power- sharing and normalization in the region. Murad said "new and innovative mechanisms" are needed to ensure the success of a new stage in the peace process. When asked about if MILF would resume armed struggle should the peace process fail, Murad said armed struggle had always been a part of political struggle, and his group believe the peace agreement with the government would solve the problems. Teresita Quintos Deles, the Philippine presidential adviser on the peace process, while stressing Manila's commitment to the peace process, said her government would not rush to the finish of the peace deal in order to ensure a durable peace in the region.