Sunday, March 15, 2015

MILF: JICA Vice President Reiterates Continued Support to the Bangsamoro

Posted to the MILF Website (Mar13): JICA Vice President Reiterates Continued Support to the Bangsamoro

JICA Vice President Reiterates Continued Support to the Bangsamoro

On March 7, 2015, the Vice President of JICA, Mr. Toshiyuki Kuroyanagi, visited Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao to meet the MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim together with the members of his delegation.

On behalf of JICA, Vice President extended the condolences to all of the victims of the ill-fated January 25th Mamasapano incident which include the 18 MILF Combatants and 5 civilians alongside with the 44 PNP SAF Commandos. He conveyed that even the JICA President was saddened after hearing the incident and hopes that it will not affect the peace process and the enactment of the BBL especially now that the discussion was suspended in both Congress and Senate. Mr. Kuroyanagi shared that if there will be peace in Mindanao, the region will enjoy what Japan has experienced after the World War II where there is prosperity, happiness, education and stability for over 70 years until now. This kind of serenity that the Vice President wish for Mindanao or the Bangsamoro that will attain in the future once all these challenges will be overcome by both the Bangsamoro and the Philippine Government.

MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim extended his deepest gratitude and sincere appreciation to JICA’s continued support to the Bangsamoro and the peace process. Chairman Murad emphasized to the Delegation of JICA that the Mamasapano incident will not ultimately affect the entire peace process which the Government and the MILF had jointly worked for long time. He is also thankful to JICA for the continued partnership with the Bangsamoro even in this challenging situation.

Chairman Murad explained to JICA Mission that the Mamasapano incident has nothing to do with the BBL because it is a separate challenge in the peace process and should not be connected to the BBL. But after the incident, some spoilers of peace coming from the Government and the Bangsamoro have capitalized on the incident and are coming out in order to pose opposition against the BBL and the peace process. These spoilers of peace were quiet before the incident had happened but after that ill-fated day of January 25th, they were grandstanding against the BBL. Because of the incident, the MILF have agreed to let the emotions settle down before continuing the discussion of the BBL in Congress and Senate. MILF is aware that if the hearing of the Proposed BBL continues with the current emotions, there will be a strong possibility of a diluted BBL. The current situation also shows the strong bias against the Bangsamoro as depicted in the pronouncement of several individuals highlighting some of the provisions in the BBL as negative.

Asked by the JICA delegation whether if MILF will accept an amended BBL after the pronouncement of the Congress and Senate that they will change some of the provisions in the proposed laws, Chairman Murad replied that the position of the MILF remains the same and that they will not accept a diluted BBL. If the proposed amendments of the BBL are for those provisions which the Bangsamoro Transition Commission has introduced, the MILF may be amenable to it. But if the Congress and Senate are proposing to amend those provisions which were provided by the signed agreement, the MILF cannot accept it. It is simply because the BBL is the translation of the agreement between the GPH and the MILF, it is not an ordinary deal, it is a translation of the political agreement into a legal document, as explained by Chairman Murad.

Chairman Murad further expressed that the MILF and the Bangsamoro people are hoping and pinning on the capability of the President to move forward the peace process and the BBL. They are also aware that the political capital of the President is going down because of the Mamasapano incident. It was mostly being blamed on him. The MILF and the Bangsamoro people believes in President Aquino’s confidence building that he is committed in really solving the Bangsamoro problem.

On behalf of JICA, Mr. Kuroyanagi, being the Vice President of JICA, expressed again to Chairman Murad that the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency will be with the Bangsamoro in its journey towards the establishment of the new Bangsamoro Government or until the peace and stability will reign in the region.

Mr. Kuroyanagi was joined by his colleagues from JICA Headquarters namely, Mr. Naoyuki Ochiai, the former member to the International Monitoring Team and Senior Advisor in the Peacebuilding and Infrastructure Department and Ms. Tomoko Shimada. From JICA Philippine Office, he was accompanied by Mr. Juro Chikaraishi, the Senior Advisor for Mindanao and current Officer-In-Charge of JICA Cotabato Project Office after Mr. Shinichi Masuda end his term of office in CPO, and Ms. Mary Ann Bakisan, the Senior Program Officer and In-charge of the Quick Impact Project.
From JICA Cotabato Project Office, Mr. Shu Nishimaru, Ms. Tomoko Yasunaga, and Ms. Samrah Karon-Patadon joined the Mission. Mr. Hiroaki Nakatsubo, PR Consultant of JICA from International Development Journal accompanied the Vice President together with his staff Ms. Saguira Saiden. The current Japanese member to the International Monitoring Mr. Takayuki Nakagawa also joined the delegation.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/777-jica-vice-president-reiterates-continued-support-to-the-bangsamoro

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