Abaya made the statement Thursday night at the launching of the nationwide information campaign on major issues the people should know the government will discuss during a series of reflective dialogues with the MILF in the next two months.

At the same time, Abaya announced that the famed singing group Apo Hiking Society has been tapped as a partner of government supporting the revival of the peace talks that will redound to the benefit of the Filipino people for a lasting peace.

Both parties worked earnestly through back-channeling efforts to revive the talk after it collapsed in August 2008 following the non-signing of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) which was declared by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

Their efforts were not in vain when the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF peace panels met in Kuala Lumpur through the facilitation of Malaysia December last year and agreed to restart formal peace negotiations.

This was further bolstered when the GRP and MILF exchanged proposed drafts again in Kuala Lumpur last month. The drafts contained proposals and recommendations to settle the long-drawn armed conflict in Mindanao that had claimed over 120,000 lives, not to mention the countless of wounded and maimed in the fighting since 1973.

GRP chief negotiator Rafael E. Seguis is confident of signing a peace agreement with the MILF following their meeting in Malaysia.

He expressed confidence of achieving “a peace settlement that is just, lasting, acceptable and truly beneficial to the Muslim Filipinos in Mindanao and to the entire Filipino people.”

"I am excited and brimming with optimism because we have, at last, reached this day when we formally resume the peace negotiations," Seguis said in his opening remarks during their meeting with the MILF in Kuala Lumpur.

When the peace talk was in the doldrums, the government launched a two-pronged path – one was “Peace Talks for All” and the second “Projects for Peace” as part of a confidence-building measure the government has undertaken as its gesture of sincerity to have a genuine and lasting peace in the country.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Annabelle T. Abaya said the resumption of peace negotiations with the MILF is an indication that peace is within grasp as both parties talk to find ways and means to end the armed conflict in Mindanao.

“We are hoping for the best,” Abaya said after assuming the leadership of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) last November.

The government hopes to hammer out a peace agreement with the MILF and other rebel groups before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ends her term in office on June 30 this year.

“If a final peace agreement would not be possible during that time frame, putting back on track the peace talk would already be a legacy President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would leave behind to the incoming government for the conclusion of a peace accord,” she added.

Abaya is promoting a slogan which she dubs as “Just talk” which she said, “is commitment to the idea that there is only one way to peace and the resolution of conflict – and that is through talking or negotiating. It may be painful and difficult, but in the end, it is the only way to move forward.”

 “Never has history proven that durable peace can be won through violence – of words or war,” she said.

“Talking is not simply for the sake of chatter. It must be seen by both to be just – or fair, honest, and sincere. But when people are hurt and angry, they are detached from these values,” she said.

 “Genuine talk then is a profound process of intent mutual listening and understanding, where people in conflict become reunited to their values and the good in them, and then take responsibility for their actions and decisions,” Abaya said.

 “This is why talk is important. Given the space to express their anguish and be understood for their needs behind their hurts, they begin to move towards authentic or just talk. This eventually leads to a lasting and just peace,” she added.