AFP: Marawi police chief abduction won't hamper PHL-MILF peace talks

The recent abduction of the Marawi city police chief allegedly by a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) faction is an "isolated incident" and will not affect the talks between the government and the Moro rebel group, a military spokesperson said Monday.

"It's an isolated incident... (D)efinitely, it is something that should not hamper the finality of peace agreement with the MILF," Armed Forces of the Philippines information chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala told reporters.

 

On Friday, about 40 MILF members allegedly led by Commander Bravo attacked a police station in Marawi City, rescueing two of their detained companions and abducting Marawi police head Superintendent Christopher Panapan in the process.

 

The suspects also killed Panapan's brother-in-law, identified only as a certain Malik.

 

Panapan was subsequently released hours after his abduction as local officials negotiated with his captors.

The abduction happened days before the government and MILF reached an agreement on power-sharing, which tackles how much power the national government will retain in the Bangsamoro political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

 

The abduction also happened in the capital of Lanao del Sur, which is part of the ARMM.

Welcome development

 

"It (power-sharing agreement) is a welcome development toward the peace initiatives of the government and for the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) because this will bring one part of our internal security operation (to a) closure," Zagala said of the annex agreement.

 

He said closing their campaign on internal security as a result of the peace talks would give them more opportunities to focus on territorial defense and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. 

 

The Annex on Power Sharing is one of four annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro that both sides signed in October 2012.  

 

The signed framework agreement would give way for the creation of a Bangsamoro territory to replace the ARMM.

 

The panels have already signed the Annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities and the Annex on Revenue Generation and Wealth Sharing.

 

The panels said they would finish talks on the "the Annex on Normalization and an addendum on the matter of Bangsamoro Waters" by January next year. The last annex would tackle the normalization of communities by which they may return to a "desired quality of life," the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said on their website.

 

The last annex would also tackle the disarmament of rogue MILF members.

 

Both panels have been conducting the peace talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. — with Marc Jayson Cayabyab/RSJ, GMA News