Philippine government assures no threat groups can derail peace talks

Philippine authorities won't allow any threat groups to derail the peace negotiation, which is nearing its completion, between the Aquino administration and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group in the country, a senior government official said Thursday. Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the state forces, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines, would continue to monitor the situation in southern Philippines to protect people there from any threat groups. "The government won't allow any violence to take place against our people," he said at a news briefing in Malacanang, the presidential palace. Some groups, such as the rogue Moro National Liberation Front ( MNLF), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a splinter group of the MILF, and the terrorist Abu Sayyaf, reportedly joined together last year by attacking military and police posts and bombing some cities in southern Philippines to derail the peace talks between the government and the MILF. The peace panels of both the government and the MILF are currently holding the 43rd formal exploratory talks in Malaysia with the hope to conclude the peace negotiation by completing the annexes of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and signing of a comprehensive peace agreement that will pave the way for the creation of a Bangsamoro government that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. "We are hoping that the whole (peace) process will be achieved under the current administration," Coloma said.