2nd JCC meeting convenes to tackle updates on Sajahatra Bangsamoro

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 5): 2nd JCC meeting convenes to tackle updates on Sajahatra Bangsamoro

The 2nd Joint Coordination Council, co-chaired by Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras for the government and Mohammad Shuaib Yacob for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, convened Friday in Cagayan de Oro City.

The meeting would discuss updates on the implementation of the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program components specifically for health, education and livelihood.

Almendras, chair of the Government of the Philippines Task Force Sajahatra Bangsamoro, said the government will continue to reach out and deliver the basic education, livelihood, and health services in the Bangsamoro areas that were not previously reached due to conflict.

"While the drafting of the annexes and the peace talks are on-going, the GPH and MILF JCC will continue the implementation of the socio-economic peace initiatives through the program components," he said.

"We need to build on the goodwill and gains that we have achieved with this partnership. This is the right step towards attaining sustainable peace," he stressed.

Since the program launch in February 11, 2012 in Sultan Kudarat, which was spearheaded by President Benigno Aquino III and MILFChair AL Haj Murad, some 639 scholars -- MILF, Christians, and Indigenous Peoples -- have been sent to school through the Commission on Higher Education Grant Program.

Yacob, chair of the MILF Task Force Sajahatra Bangsamoro, reported they have also identified the 50 madaris schools that will avail of the P250,000 grant from the Dept. of Education and will be ready for the start of the school year in August.

He also highlighted the genuine sincerity of both the GPH and MILF, on the implementation of the program.

Yacob said this is a worthwhile partnership "that should be continued to be pursued to achieve lasting peace."

On the other hand, Philhealth is currently processing the 11,000 MILF identified beneficiaries of the Bangsamoro so they can avail the basic health care services and facilities in the Bangsamoro communities.

The Dept. of Health will also sponsor medical, surgical and dental missions in these communities.

Bangsamoro doctors in the Bangsamoro communities have offered their services for free during the medical missions.

The MILF expressed their appreciation of the process that discussions, updates and decision-making are made jointly by the GPH and MILF.

Almendras said the government is serious and committed in pursuing peace in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, GPH peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer has expressed the government’s resolve to complete the annex on wealth sharing with the MILF in the next round of formal exploratory talks to be held on July 8 in Kuala Lumpur.

"We're both very conscious that we do want to finish (the Annex) as soon as possible; that we do need to find compromises to be able to put something in the text and sign on to it," said Ferrer.

The annex on wealth-sharing is one of the three remaining annexes that are expected to be completed by the GPH and the MILF soon.

Together with the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities, the three annexes will comprise the comprehensive agreement on the Bangsamoro.

"It's in this stage that both parties want to come to terms with the remaining issues, specially pertaining to the wealth-sharing annex that has taken a long time to process," said Ferrer.

The GPH peace panel chair explained that both parties knew that the document on the wealth sharing annex had to be brought back to their respective principals for final review.

"That's precisely why the two panel chairs did not initial nor sign this document because that will happen after the final review takes place," she said.

Ferrer noted that the GPH proposal on wealth-sharing provides for a fiscal arrangement that is better than what exists in the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

"There will be more taxing powers and a more defined sharing of government resources on the whole, in keeping with the goal of having a strong and viable autonomous Bangsamoro governance," she said.

"If things go well, we might be able to have a good working draft of the power sharing annex with only few items left for resolution," she added.

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