COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Tawi-Tawi Governor Hadji Sadikul Sahali has expressed optimism that the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would be able to strike a final peace agreement soon and put an end to the decades-old Muslim rebellion in the south.

In a statement sent to the Manila Bulletin, Sahali conveyed his thanks to the government and MILF negotiating panels for inviting and letting him speak at their 24th exploratory talks in Pulan Penang, Malaysia from January 9 to 11.

Sahali said he was given the chance to urge the government peace panel to “sincerely give the maximum” it can to the MILF in the light of President Aquino’s earlier assured constitutional flexibility in talking peace with the 13,000-strong Moro revolutionary front.

On the other hand, Sahali said he advised the MILF panel to mellow down a bit its demands to a point the state can provide in the midst of legal limitations.

Both negotiating panels should adjust and strike a compromise leading to the signing of a final peace pact as soon as possible, the Tawi-Tawi chief executive said.

Sahali said that Tawi-Tawi, which forms part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), has been one of the “very peaceful” zones in Mindanao, despite reports of recruitment of cadres by the MILF last year in his province.

So far, he said, local government units (LGUs) in Tawi-Tawi have not encountered a problem in the MILF recruitment except that some town officials were apprehensive of a repeat of mass recruitment by the then mainstream Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1970s.

He said the MNLF’s forging of the September 2, 1996 peace agreement with the government has helped a lot in the current prevalence of peace in his province.

The recent 24th government-MILF exploratory talks were described as “constructive and cordial” with the state peace panel offering a “genuinely autonomy” and the rebel panel renewing clamor for a sub-state enjoying self-determination.

Both panels agreed to hold their 25th exploratory talks this month in Malaysia.

The 24th peace meeting was also attended by Governors Sakur Tan of Sulu, and Jum Akbar of Basilan, said Sahali.

In another development, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is now finalizing the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to be entered into with the Zamboanga City Water District for the expansion of the Zamboanga City watershed area.

Zamboanga City Water District General Manager Leonardo Vasquez said the MoA will allow the ZCWD to expand the coverage of Zamboanga City’s watershed to over 17,000 hectares of wooded area from its present 10 hectares.

Vasquez said the ZCWD, based on an earlier agreement, has taken custody of the city’s watershed cover, as it protects the water utility firm’s surface water source – critical of the city’s water supply.

The additional wooded area is currently in the DENR’s care as it completes its reforestation program funded by foreign aid agencies, Vasquez said.

He disclosed that the move will help bolster the district’s forest cover protection effort in a bid to preserve one of only three existing and active watershed reserves in the country today.