Report on positive developments in Mindanao caps Washington forum

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 7): Report on positive developments in Mindanao caps Washington forum

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said Governor Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) capped a two-week focus by the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. on peace and development in the southern Philippines, with a forum on Muslim Mindanao and the Duterte Administration at the Embassy’s Romulo Hall on April 6, 2017.

In a statement, the DFA said in his presentation, Governor Hataman described the modern-day Mindanao to an audience composed of US government officials, corporate executives, academics, researchers, students and Filipino-Americans.

He described to the Filipino community how the Bangsamoro struggle evolved, and the steps taken by the Philippine Government towards peace in Muslim Mindanao. He presented the ARMM initiatives following its three pillars of reform and discussed the current Administration’s six-point peace and development agenda in the ARMM and the southern Philippines as a whole, the DFA statement said.

“These positive developments in the peace process are necessary in order to address the perennial issue of underdevelopment and respond to the threat brought about by the existence of terrorist and extremist groups. This will surely usher in the realization of the aspirations of those who sacrificed their lives to gain peace and progress in the Bangsamoro areas, the whole Mindanao and the entire Philippines,” Hataman explained.

Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. reported that the governor’s visit to the US capital followed an investment mission led by Director General Charito B. Plaza, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and Executive Director Aleem Siddiqui Guiapal, Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao-Regional Economic Zone Authority, which highlighted the current transformation at PEZA and the investment opportunities in Mindanao, including the ARMM, from 27-29 March 2017.

In the open forum that followed, Hataman fielded questions that touched on counter-terrorism, the role of the United States in Mindanao’s peace and development, Bangsamoro culture and heritage, and the critical importance of an effective healthcare system, among others.

“We hope we have begun a continuing and engaged conversation among relevant stakeholders here in the United States about how to promote more synergies for the genuine development of Mindanao, including the ARMM. We hope that the investment mission last week and the Governor’s talk today delivered a message of hope and optimism for the peace and development of Mindanao,” said Minister Patrick A. Chuasoto, Charge d’Affaires, ad interim of the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The Forum was co-organized by the Embassy and the US-Philippines Society.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=978648