Mindanao dev’t projects to be signed tomorrow

MANILA, Philippines - The governments of the Philippines and Japan and the Bangsamoro Development Agency will sign tomorrow a contract for $855,325 worth of development projects in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.

Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) media relations officer Rhea Catada said the development grant from Japan is another landmark for the peace process between the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose peace panels are set to sign the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro on March 27.

Catada said the grant would pave the way for eight development projects in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.

The contract signing will be led by Japanese Ambassador Toshinao Urabe, OPAPP undersecretary Luisito Montalbo, International Monitoring Team’s head of mission Major General Dato Abd Samad Bin Haj Yaakub, and Bangsamoro Development Agency executive director Mohammad Shuaib Yacob.  It will be held at 10 a.m. at the Astoria Plaza in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

The Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro is the final peace deal between the Philippine government and MILF. It comprises the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro and its annexes on transitional arrangements and modalities, revenue generation and wealth sharing, power sharing, and normalization as well as the addendum on Bangsamoro waters and zones of joint cooperation.

A new Bangsamoro region will be established in Mindanao as a result of the negotiations between the government and MILF.

The first breakthrough in the Mindanao peace process was achieved on Oct. 15, 2012 when the Philippine government and MILF peace panels signed the Framework Agreement in Malacañang.

Recently, the government and MILF peace panels signed the fourth and last annex on normalization, which Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said was a great leap to complete the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.

Deles said the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement is expected to benefit not only Bangsamoro, but the entire country.

“After 17 long years of arduous negotiations, we are finally arriving at a political settlement that will seal enduring peace and progress in Mindanao,” she said.

She noted that among the qualities of the peace talks is the gradual decommissioning of armed men on the ground, which she described as a “true testament to the sincerity and genuine desire of the MILF to fully embrace the cause of peace.”

She also noted that the new regime of peace from the Bangsamoro political entity would enable the Philippines, especially Mindanao, to benefit optimally from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic integration that would start next year. 

“As we prepare for the ASEAN economic integration that takes place next year, we are doing our own economic integration at the national and regional levels, with a more peaceful Mindanao emerging as our attractive gateway to global and regional trade and investments,” Deles said.

“Two of our neighbors, Indonesia and Malaysia, have among the largest Muslim constituencies in the world. Poised to achieve peaceful transformation into a viable and sustainable political and economic entity, the Bangsamoro shall be our front door to regional trade,” she added.