Former rebel camps to be turned into farms in Philippines

From the Gulf News (Jul 16): Former rebel camps to be turned into farms in Philippines

The six camps were identified and acknowledged in 1999 during the presidency of Estrada

The Philippines government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), with assistance form the World Bank, have set out on a programme to convert former rebel camps into productive farms.

The programme to transition thousands of hectares of land in Central Mindanao is part of the “Normalisation” annex of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed last year.

This particular annex in the agreement seeks to revert, as well as improve, the situation in the region economics wise to the time before the rebellion broke out in Southern Philippines.

Under the Normalisation Annex, the government and the MILF had mutually agreed to constitute joint task forces that “would assess the needs, plan appropriate programmes, and undertake the necessary measures to transform areas affected by conflict into peaceful and productive communities.”

Government Peace Panel member Senen Bacani said the programme to covert former rebel camps into productive farms is an embodiment of the ideal “turning weapons into ploughshares,” by providing MILF members with sustainable livelihoods.

Bacani, a former agriculture secretary, was among the officials present in a three-day Area Development Planning workshop by World Bank experts in Cotabato City. Held from July 9 to 11, the workshop was attended by MILF commanders and government military and agriculture officials and aimed to come up with the priority development plans for the former rebel bases.

These camps are the former MILF bases Abu Bakr Al Seddiqi, Badr, and Omar Bin Al Khattab in Maguindanao; Rajamuda in North Cotabato and Maguindanao; Bilal in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur; and Busrah Somiorang in Lanao del Sur.

The six camps were identified and acknowledged in 1999 during the presidency of Joseph Ejercito Estrada in order to facilitate the observance of the 1997 ceasefire agreement. However, an all-out war was waged against the MILF in 2000. The MILF withdrew from some of these camps, notably Camps Abubakar and Omar.

During the workshop, Bacani urged participants to identify quick-response projects that would address the needs of the communities such as electricity, water supply system, infrastructure and livelihood projects. “These efforts should continue,” Bacani said.

Mohammad Saleh, MILF task force camp transformation coordinator expressed gratitude to the government and international groups for their commitment to achieve genuine peace and development in Mindanao.

Earlier, the MILF turned over some 75 weapons ranging from rifles to heavy machineguns to mortars as part of the “decommissioning annex” of the CAB. Despite its wealth in natural resources, years of conflict between the government and MILF had plunged the Central Mindanao region in poverty.

With the peace agreement and the eventual creation of a Bangsamoro region, the area is provided bright hope for a stable future as Moros pursue their goal of self determination. Presently a law that would govern the Bangsamoro is being debated in Congress.

http://gulfnews.com/news/asia/philippines/former-rebel-camps-to-be-turned-into-farms-in-philippines-1.1551362