MANILA — The government of President Benigno Aquino is “cautiously optimistic" that the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would be signed during the tenure of the present administration. Government officials said the peace talks would resume sometime next month and hoped that the crucial issues could be finally resolved. These issues include power sharing and the new political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Presidential Communication Secretary Ramon Carandang said Friday that if the peace negotiation would be signed during the tenure of President Aquino, it would be a great legacy for his administration. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda for his part said that the talks held in Kuala Lumpur remained “fragile" at this time. “Peace between the Philippine government and MILF is knocking on the door," Lacierda said. “We are cautiously optimistic that a peace agreement will be signed within this administration, within this term." Even the Malaysian facilitator of the negotiation Tengku Dato' Ghafar Tenku Bin Mohamed has agreed that the meeting on Wednesday night between the government and the MILF are “closer to the vision of the Final Peace Agreement". Government panel chairman Dean Marvic Leonen said that both parties have encountered difficulties during the three-day negotiation, but the two groups have finally understood the new autonomous political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Leonen stated that both parties have accomplished “something which the government and the MILF have never achieved before in these talks. These agreements may be in principle, some in detail." “For a centuries-old conflict and years of negotiations, we definitely will face the hardest questions and confront our principals with the hardest decisions yet ever to be made in these negotiations," Leonel said. Based on the joint statement, the parties said that they continued discussions on substantive issues, which include power-sharing and other related matters. But there are still many issues to be resolved, he said, including the mechanisms that will ensure the delivery of all these commitments made through broad acceptance by all critical sectors.— Agencies
