KUALA LUMPUR (MindaNews/29 May) — The Philippine government (GPH) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels agreed to an extended lunch break Tuesday to watch the Senate verdict on Chief Justice Renato Corona via live streaming inside the State Room of the Palace of the Golden Horses.
The initial estimate was to resume at 3 p.m. after the panels broke for lunch at 1 p.m. but the afternoon session was virtually suspended after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile announced he would not impose any time limit for the senators to explain their votes.
At 5:30 p.m., Malaysian talks facilitator Tengku Dato’ Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed, told MindaNews that after the last vote by Senate President Enrile, they would just formally close Tuesday’s session, for resumption Wednesday morning.
Tuesday’s agenda was on power and wealth sharing but only power sharing was discussed in the morning, the GPH panel using the LCD screen at the State Room for its Powerpoint presentation.
The same LCD screen was used to watch the Senate verdict starting at around 2:30 p.m. Tengku allowed other members of the GPH delegation and MindaNews inside the State Room to watch the proceedings.
At one point early on in the voting, two members of the MILF peace panel’s delegation and two from the GPH delegation had to switch computers and access another channel due to technical problems.
Most of those who watched the Senate proceedings here from 2:30 p.m. to 6:03 p.m.. (when the final verdict was handed down), were mostly from the GPH delegation, including the governors of the five-province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Occasionally, some MILF panel members would watch briefly before going back to the holding room within the State Room, for two meetings – one with Ali Demerci of Turkey, the representative of the Office of the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the other with the five ARMM governors – Jum Akbar of Basilan, Mamintal Adiong, Jr. of Lanao del Sur, Esmael Mangudadatu of Maguindanao, Sakur Tan of Sulu and Sadikul Sahali of Tawi-tawi.
Akbar, Mangudadatu, Tan and Sahali entered the holding room at 3:40 p.m with Adiong, who went back to his hotel after lunch, arriving at 4:20 p.m.
While senators were explaining their votes, MILF peace panel members were explaining to the governors their proposals on the transition from the present ARMM to the “new autonomous political set up” that would be set up as agreed upon by the two panels in their “Decision Points on Principles” signed last month also here in Kuala Lumpur.
Several times, the voice of MILF peace panel senior member Datu Michael Mastura, could be heard by those watching the Senate proceedings.
Mastura could be heard saying “the totality of the relations” between the national government and the Bangsamoro, apparently explaining to the governors what they meant by “status quo is unacceptable.”
Gov. Tan had earlier that morning told MindaNews he wants to know what that phrase means – if it refers merely to the ARMM or something else.
Decision Point 2 in the first major agreement signed by the panels under the Aquino administration, states that the two panels agree that “the status quo is unacceptable” and that they would “work for the creation of a new autonomous political entity in place of ARMM.”
He would also be heard talking about the parliamentary structure they envision for the “new autonomous political entity.”
The mood apparently changed later because the crowd watching the Senate voting could hear the laughter of both the ARMM governors and the MILF panel members.
Their meeting ended at 5:45 p.m., just as Enrile was explaining his vote.
GPH panel chair Marvic Leonen predicted a “19 to 20” convicting Corona. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)
