PNoy, first president who sets foot in MILF camp, tells communities long wait for progress is over

From InterAksyon (Feb 11): PNoy, first president who sets foot in MILF camp, tells communities long wait for progress is over



President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his speech during the Ceremonial Launch of Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program: Peace Dividends of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) at the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute (BLMI) in Barangay Salimbao, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on Monday (February 11, 2013). The strong partnership between the government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has become more evident as both sides work together in the process of identifying beneficiaries and their immediate needs that will be addressed by the Sajahatra Bangsamoro program. The FAB indicated that â??the Parties agree to intensify development efforts for rehabilitation, reconstruction, and development of the Bangsamoro, and institute programs to address the needs of MILF combatants, internally displaced persons, and poverty-stricken communities.â? (Photo by: Ryan Lim / Malacañang PhotoBureau).

They need not wait for their hair to turn grey before they achieve progress. What can be done will be done now.

This, in essence, was the promise that President Benigno Aquino III gave to communities under the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Monday as he became the country’s first chief executive to set foot in an MILF camp in Maguindanao to spearhead the launching of the Sajahatra Bangsamoro program in Sultan Kudarat's Da’awah Center in Simuay district.

The socio-economic initiative aims to uplift the health, education, and livelihood conditions of war-torn MILF communities.

"At ngayon po, ang ipinapakita natin sa pamamagitan nitong Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program -- Hindi na kailangang maghintay ng mahabang panahon upang madanas ang pagbabago; ang puwedeng simulan o ipatupad ngayon, sisimulan at ipapatupad natin ngayon,” Aquno said.

[And now, what we what to show through the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program is that there is no more need to wait for a long time to experience change, that what can be started or implemented now will be started and implemented now.]

“Hindi na kailangang tumanda ng labing-isang libong benepisyaryo ng MILF nang hindi nasasaklaw ng PhilHealth coverage o ng Cash for Work program. Hindi na po kailangang mamuti ng buhok ng mga komunidad sa kakahintay. Hindi na kailangang mag-abang ang 500 kabataang Moro ng maraming taon para makapag-aral, dahil sa ipamamahaging mga scholarship sa ilalim ng programang ito," he added.

[The 11,000 MILF beneficiaries need not grow old before they get included in the Philhealth coverage or in the Cash for Work program. Their hair need not turn grey as they wait endless . The 500 Moro youth need not wait for years to be able to study, because scholarships will be given under this program.]

The President said the administration's goal is to "accelerate the transition of MILF communities steeped in armed struggle to a productive citizenry that buys into the national agenda, and contributes to our shared goal of equitable progress."

"When once they treated themselves with herbs from the jungle, soon they will have health insurance, and will be cared for by trained doctors and nurses in state-funded health centers. When once children were taught merely the histories of suffering inside their madaris, soon they will also learn that peace can triumph," he said.

Aquino said this would only happen if "we open our hearts and allow ourselves to trust our fellow men. And when once they felt oppressed under the cloud of conflict, soon they will feel empowered, illumined by the daylight of peace."

Possible signing in March of comprehensive peace pact

At the sidelines of the launching of the Sajahatra Bangsamoro, Aquino told reporters that the signing of the much-awaited comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the MILF might happen in March.

"I think we’re very, very close to agreements on all the points. Pero [But] , as you know, I don’t like to give deadlines even to people investigating crimes," said Aquino.
"This is a consensual process. We are trying to achieve consensus and it will take its natural course but we think it might be earlier... at least earlier than the end of March," the President added.

According to Aquino, the peace negotiations moved forward "unhindered by secrecy and manipulation, and propelled by solidarity towards the shared goal of empowering every Filipino in the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)."

"Others have stumbled in the past. We were determined not to make the same mistakes, we were determined not to succumb to indiscriminate knee-jerk reactions borne out of anger, or to cast aside true consensus, or favor concealment over transparency in negotiations," the President said.

MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said the people were honored with Aquino’s spearheading of the socio-economic initiative in MILF communities where so many lives were sacrificed in the past as government forces and Moro rebels engaged in battles.

Murad said that aside from peace and independence, the Bangsamoro also needed change and progress, which could only be achieved if there would be lasting peace in Mindanao.

While admitting that there’s much to be done to achieve progress, Murad assured the Aquino administration that the MILF would always support the government’s quest for peace and progress for the Bangsamoro.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/54830/pnoy-first-president-who-sets-foot-in-milf-camp-tells-communities-long-wait-for-progress-is-over