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A Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) official confirmed Monday that peace talks with the government are back on track after both sides resolved differences on the the draft agreement on ancestral domain.

Ghazali Jaafar,  MILF vice-chair for political affairs, told ANC’s News at 8 that the memorandum of agreement (MOA) regarding the Bangsamoro homeland was initialed by both sides Sunday night.

“I think, this weekend or next week, there will be a formal signing of the MOA on Bangsamoro ancestral domain,” Jaafar said.

On Friday, Philippine government’s negotiators tried to delay the referendum on enlarging a previous Muslim homeland until after a political agreement was reached. That would have reneged on a previous commitment to hold the vote six months after an agreement on ancestral domain, which had been scheduled on August 5.

“The two parties [already] agreed last July 16, the MILF and the government . But when they discussed again, GRP wanted some changes on it and that was the reason why there was a walk-out. But finally, the two groups reached a consensus on some of the changes the GRP was pushing,” explained Jaafar.

Jaafar said the changes include the desire of GRP to hold the plebiscite after the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement, not six months after the signing of the agreement on ancestral domain.

“We failed to settle the old issues after two days of hard bargaining,” Mohaqher Iqbal, chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said after talks in Kuala Lumpur brokered by the Malaysian government.

“The talks collapsed because the government was undoing already-settled issues. The signing ceremony set for August 5 was cancelled,” he told Reuters. “They’re trying to re-open discussions on what had been agreed upon.”

Friday’s breakdown came a week after both sides reported a breakthrough on the issue following several days of talks. Malaysian and Philippine foreign ministers had been due to witness the signing of the pact on August 5.

“We had some disagreements when we were going over the final draft of the agreement on ancestral domain,” retired general Rodolfo Garcia, the head of the government’s peace panel, told Reuters.

Jaafar, meanwhile, denied allegations that the recent reports of MILF attacks in the south was brought about by the derailment of the peace talks. He said that the attacks were isolated cases, and should not be linked to what happened on Friday.

“You know the reported attacks, these are isolated cases. Our Ceasefire Committee is working on it, and I believe the  committee continues to monitor and resolve the problems,” he said.  With Reuters