COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Acknowledging that the State peace formula differs from the proposal of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), government panel chief Marvic Leonen has batted for continued negotiations between the two panels that adjourned their 22nd round of formal talks in Kuala Lumpur recently with some questions lingering among the negotiators and the public.

The essence of any negotiation is premised on the belief that there are differences between or among negotiators, Leonen pointed out at a recent press conference here.

What counts foremost is that the government panel is “ready, willing, and able to continue the negotiations,” Leonen said as he urged the MILF to “sit down with us and continue to dialogue.”

“The MILF may not agree with the approaches of government but we entreat them and urge them for the sake of (the) peoples in Mindanao to not simply posture by rejecting our proposal but to sit down with us and continue to dialogue and converse and see the extent of differences but also more importantly the extent of our agreements,” Leonen said.

Leonen’s press conference here came a week after the government and MILF peace panels adjourned their third panel-to-panel meeting with the MILF panel recommending to its Central Committee the rejection of government’s proposed peace settlement.

The MILF submitted its own proposal on February 10, while the government peace formula was handed to the rebel front’s panel on August 22 – 18 days after President Aquino and MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim met in Japan and agreed to fast-track the process of forging a peace accord within the former’s administration.