MANILA: The government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) yesterday extended the 38th round of formal peace talks after no annexes to the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro ((FAB) were signed, senior government officials said.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte, in a news briefing, said that after fruitless negotiations over the past four days, the government’s peace panel headed by Miriam Coronel-Ferrer had sought extension of the talks with the Milf in Malaysia.
“We received word from Kuala Lumpur that the talks are still going on between the government and the Milf. According to chairman Ferrer, the government had requested an extension of the talks and it is on-going now, the other panel agreed,” she said.
Milf peace panel head Mohagher Iqbal said on Thursday that the negotiations were heading for an impasse since no annex had been signed. Prior to the talks, both sides were hopeful of inking at least an annex on wealth-sharing.
Ferrer said the talks were extended “to find good compromises on key issues like taxation and revenue share.”
She expressed hope of finding solutions, but said that there was a need for flexibility on both sides.
The Philippine star
