Reme Ahmad in Singapore talks to
Teo Cheng Wee in Kuala Lumpur
RA. The Philippine and Malaysian foreign ministers seem resigned to the fact that the government will now face the court in their efforts to restore peace in the Philippines' volatile south. This land deal they hope to sign with the separatist rebels Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF): Do they seem confident to you that the deal could go through?
TCW: The ministers and officials all seem very confident that this will go through. They have all described it as a hiccup and the deal as watertight because they had gone through it carefully. They said this is just a procedural thing and proof that the legislative process is independent in their democratic country.
What is less clear is the timeline. The ministers did not want to say how long this could drag on for. The Phillipines government's chief negotiator only said he was hopeful it could be over "within weeks" after I pushed him several times for an answer, but it seems he is not too sure either.
RA. The Malaysian backers of the deal - how do they feel? They were so eager about signing the deal yesterday. Now they are also saying their peacekeepers will stay on in Southern Philippines.
TCW: The Malaysian foreign minister echoed the Philippines officials' responses. He, too, is confident the deal will come through. As for the peacekeepers staying on, he said that it was in support of the Filippino counterparts and it's a reaction to the situation on the ground. Dr Romulo, the Filippino FM, praised the Malaysian forces as "indispensable" and should stay.
RA. How many Moro Islamic Liberation Front officials turned up at press conference? Did you hear them say anything to indicate their displeasure?
TCW: There were supposed to be MILF officials there but we didn't meet anyone. We'd all rushed from the foreign ministry to the Marriott hotel at Putrajaya after hearing that MILF was giving a press conference. But it turned out to be a false alarm since all we got was a statement.
The statement did, however, say that they were clearly not as upbeat as the government. MILF took potshots at the government though, saying that it had "utterly discredited itself to the international community". But MILF also said they remained committed to the peace process.
We did meet two other people though: the Philippines government's chief negotiator and the adviser to the president for the peace process. We got some quotes from them, so it wasn't entirely a wasted trip.
Read Teo Cheng Wee's full story here.
What exactly is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front? Alastair Mcindoe explains.