MUNAI, LANAO DEL
NORTE – Despite initial uncertainties with regard the continuation
of the Bangsamoro peace process with the upcoming change of administration, the
planned transformation of the six previously acknowledged Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) camps continues as outlined in the Comprehensive
Agreement on the Bangsamoro particularly in its Normalization Annex.
Earlier last
week, the Department of Agriculture (DA) together with the Office of the
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and other government agencies
including the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), turned over farming
assistance to beneficiaries in Camp Bilal here in Munai, Lanao del Norte,
including farm tractors, three carabaos and provisions for agriculture farm
inputs totaling 600 bags of corn seedlings and 1,000 pieces of fruit-bearing
tree seedlings.
“This is in
compliance with the provisions of the CAB, particularly the Annex on
Normalization, as part of the confidence-building measures that are undertaken
through the joint task force for the six acknowledged MILF camps with the end
in view of transforming these areas into peaceful and productive communities,”
said Government of the Philippines (GPH) Peace Panel member Senen Bacani.
The six
previously acknowledged MILF strongholds included Camps Abubakar, Omar, Badr,
Rajamuda, Bushrah, and Bilal.
“It’s our fervent
hope that this assistance with the Department of Agriculture will help very
much in gradually transforming the communities in the six MILF camps into [the]
peaceful and productive communities we have envisioned in the Comprehensive
Agreement on the Bangsamoro, ” said Bacani, who co-chairs with MILF panel
member Abhoud Lingga the Joint Task Forces on Camps Transformation, which
coordinate and facilitate socio-economic projects and programs for the camps
and their communities.
“We believe that
peace will not be achieved by talking alone but by action. The Bangsamoro Basic
Law (BBL) may be delayed but we must continue to push for the economic
development of the Bangsamoro communities because development is a
responsibility of every single leader,” he added.
Col. William
Alunday, Commanding Officer of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade of the Mechanized
Infantry Division, Philippine Army and Carlota Madriaga, Operations Division
Chief of DA Regional Field Office X, were in attendance during the event and
served as coordinators for Camp
Bilal
Ensuring the
continuity of the process to the next administration
At the two-day
special meeting between the GPH and MILF panels in Malaysia
The TOR provides
management guidelines for quick-impact socioeconomic projects that will be
funded by the Mindanao Trust Fund Reconstruction and Development Programme
(MTF-RDP).
The MTF-RDP is a
“multi-donor funding facility managed by the World Bank to be managed from
January to December 2016 in accordance with the rules and regulations of the
World Bank with technical assistance from the Project Implementation Unit (PIU)
– Community and Family Services International (CFSI).”
Incoming
Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza vowed to continue the momentum of
the Bangsamoro peace process once the new administration takes over on June 30.
“In my capacity
as Presidential Peace Adviser-Nominee to President-Elect Rodrigo R. Duterte,
allow me to welcome with positive note the forging in Malaysia of the
declaration of continuity in the search for sustainable peace between the
Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,” Dureza said in a
statement which was read during the special meeting in Kuala Lumpur of the GPH
and MILF negotiating panels.
“We intend to
continue with the gains and build on those already done and achieved. The
roadmap that we will traverse hereon will take policy guidance and direction
from the new President when he assumes office on June 30, 2016,” the statement
continued.
Support from
International Community
Meanwhile in Cotabato City
Project
Coordinator Mr. Koji Demizu said that the objective of the socio-economic
survey is “to contribute [to] the successful implementation of the
Normalization Annex by knowing/getting socio-economic profiles and in-depth
information of socio-economic needs/aspirations of the selected communities.”
Demizu explained
that the activity aimed to gather and consolidate ideas and solicit
recommendations in terms of interventions and assistance needed in line with
the results/findings and recommendations from the socio-economic survey
conducted last September 2015 up to February 2016 from the invited
participants, most of which came from the international community such as The
Asia Foundation, Save the Children, UNICEF, UNDP, and the International
Monitoring Team.
The
JICA-spearheaded socio-economic survey detailed the recommended economic
opportunities that the different invited agencies can help develop in order to
help uplift the lives of the people in the six municipalities covered by the
study, namely: Barira, Matanog and Buldon of Maguindanao; Kapatagan, Balabagan
and Marogong of Lanao del Sur.
The Normalization
Annex is part of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) under
which the MILF and GPH agreed to intensify development efforts of
rehabilitation, reconstruction and development of the Bangsamoro addressing the
needs of MILF-BIAF members, Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) and poverty
stricken communities. (OPAPP)
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1141465038686/milf-camps-transformation-to-productive-civilian-communities-continues
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