Gov’t downgrades peace talks, MILF says (tags)
Manila-- The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has described the replacement of Secretary Silvestre Afable as government chief negotiator with a non-cabinet member as a deliberate downgrading of the peace process by the government following Afable’s alleged resignation the other day. Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF peace panel secretariat, told Luwaran that while the MILF leadership has the highest respect for Father Eliseo Mercado Jr. as “a person, friend and as a priest” but he does not possess the authority that a cabinet member possesses.
GRP-MILF talks deadlocked on ancestral domain (tags)
BACKDOOR peace negotiations between the largest separatist rebels and the government continue to be deadlocked over the issue of ancestral domain. Sources close to Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr. said Wednesday that the December 1 meeting between leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and government negotiators in Malaysia failed to break the four-month impasse in the peace parley. “Technically, the deadlock stays because the two panels did not reach any settlement on the territorial domain,” the sources told The Manila Times.