STATEMENT OF GPH PANEL CHAIR MARVIC LEONEN on the 13 January 2011 Informal Talks with the MILF

The Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front concluded informal talks today, 13 January 2010, in Kuala Lumpur, under the auspices of the Malaysian government.


Both parties will resume formal, exploratory talks on February 9-10, 2011. They agreed that the renewal of the mandate of the IMT and the AHJAG will be positively considered in the February meeting.


In addition, the GPH affirmed the security guarantees previously agreed on and will issue identity cards to members of the MILF participating in the peace negotiations. The MILF submitted a list of 25 MILF members allegedly in the custody of Philippine security agencies. Government, in turn, agreed to review individually the cases of the people in the list.


The GPH panel welcomes the solution of the Malaysian government on the concerns raised regarding facilitation. It is optimistic that talks will move forward constructively.


The Government delegation in the informal talks was composed of Panel Chair Marvic Leonen, Panel Member Miriam Coronel Ferrer, and head of secretariat Iona Jalijali. Panel Chair Mohagher Iqbal, Panel Member Michael Mastura and head of secretariat Jun Mantawil made up the MILF delegation.