UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he hoped that the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would be able to sign a final peace agreement soon as it praised the recent strides Manila has made to make this possible. Ban said, "I commend the Philippine government effort to promote peace and democracy and inclusive growth. In this context, I congratulate the Philippine government of progress in the Mindanao peace process particularly the agreement reached between parties in December. I hope a final agreement will be reached soon."
Ban was referring to the signing early this month by negotiators of both camps regarding power sharing between the national government and local authorities under a proposed new Bangsamoro autonomous set-up in Muslim Mindanao.