InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - The government will not award any service contracts for oil exploration in areas near the Liguasan Marsh until it forges a wealth-sharing agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), President Benigno Aquino III said on Wednesday.
"Chairman Murad is correct, Wealth-sharing is one of the annexes that we have to finish," Aquino said referring to the annexes of the government's framework agreeement with the MILF that will pave the way for the creation of a Bangsamoro region in the Philippines.
"From what Energy Secretary Rene Almendras explained to me, we have not yet opened the areas for bidding," the President added.
Earlier, MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim called on the government to postpone the awarding of oil exploration contracts in Mindanao, particularly those in Liguasan in the Cotabato Basin and Sulu seas until the wealth-sharing issue is addressed.
"As a principle, we are not against exploitation of our natural resources including oil and gas provided that they redound to the benefits of our people and should be done in the proper time and conditions," said Murad.
Representatives from the government and the MILF are scheduled to meet in Kuala Lumpur in November to firm up the framework agreement's annexes on wealth-sharing, power-sharing, and normalization.
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