GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Secretary Jesus Dureza, Presidential Adviser on Mindanao Affairs, Tuesday said prospects for the resumption of peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is bright.

Dureza aired his observation citing the earnest desire of the MILF leadership to hold peace negotiations with the government citing the pact that calls for the formation of an International Contact Group (ICG).

The ICG, which was agreed by the GRP and MILF peace panels in Kuala Lumpur, will serve as a ceasefire monitoring team composed of foreign countries supporting the peace talk.

“The fact that the MILF is willing to resume the holding of peace negotiation with the government is good enough to make the prospect for peace in Mindanao is bright,” Dureza said in an exclusive interview with Manila Bulletin.

Dureza also revealed that the GRP and MILF panels have opted on “creative option” to be able to deal on the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) to push for the resumption of peace talks.

Peace talks between the GRP and MILF bogged down on August last year when the Supreme Court declared the MoA-AD as “unconstitutional” and barred the signing of the agreement prompting rogue MILF leaders to launch deadly attacks on civilian villages in Mindanao.

“I agree that the MoA-AD is not the final agreement since it would only pave for the resumption of peace talks. When the two panels agree on the MoA-AD, it still needs an enabling act by the Senate and the House, which eventually will be approved or rejected by the people in the affected area through a plebiscite,” Dureza said.

The MILF is insisting that resumption of peace negotiations would only push through by including the MoA-AD as a key talking point in the peace talks.