Palace hails joint agreement between PHL, MILF

MANILA -– Malacanang on Friday hailed the joint agreement signed between the Philippine government peace panel (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Kuala Lumpur.Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the joint agreement reflects the shared commitment of both parties to the attainment of the Bangsamoro’s aspirations on long term peace and progress.Coloma said the renewal of the mandates of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group and the International Monitoring Team until March 31, 2017 fortifies the peace infrastructure as these bodies have been instrumental in bringing about salutary results in peace-keeping as well as in sustained campaigns against criminal and terror elements.””The continuation of other normalization programs on transitional justice and reconciliation, camps transformation and provision of socio-economic packages serve to strengthen confidence on the sustainability of the peace process,” he added.The Palace official said both the GPH and the MILF will persevere in continuing efforts to create awareness and build consensus so that the next steps --- including the enactment of a basic law and the setting up of a new governance framework --- may be vigorously pursued and fully implemented in the near future.The Kuala Lumpur meeting was held after Congress failed to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) which is a codification of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed between the government and the MILF in March 2014. (PNA)LGI/JFM