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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippines, MILF make progress on self-rule law |
| 2014-08-11 |
| Peace negotiators for the Philippine government and the country’s largest Muslim militant group said on Sunday they had "reached agreement on substantial portions" of a draft self-rule law meant to end years of bloody rebellion. Both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels said in a joint statement they were committed to completing the draft bill by August 18, so it could be passed by Congress as soon as possible. The joint statement said, "The panels have reached agreement on substantial portions of the document and have developed a shared understanding of the remaining challenges and unsettled issues, which they will bring back to their principals for further guidance." Asked what these challenges and unsettled issues were, head MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said they included the draft law's "preamble", as well as "fiscal autonomy and inter-government relations". He said, "We covered many things but there were a lot of things that have not been resolved." The statement said the two sides had discussed "fiscal autonomy and administration of justice", as well as the issue of budget transfers from the national government to the proposed Muslim autonomous government during the closed door talks in Davao. |
| Posted by:ryuge |