Chair person of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Committee on Cultutal Communities, Senator Loren Legarda says, the peace framework agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippines Government must be coupled with economic progress to make peace last in Mindanao. The ink on parchment cannot solve the problem, it will be a long and arduous process. Without an economic package, any peace agreement will not be successful. She also added that and it’s not enough that resources are made available. Resources must be translated into jobs livelihood, education, food, welfare and healthcare for the Bangsamoro people.
The framework agreement which will be signed aims to replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao with a new region called Bangsamoro people. The agreement is an opportunity to achieve the long-elusive peace in the region. Let them give peace a chance, let them explore all possibilities within the bounds of our national sovereignty to achieve the long elusive peace in Mindanao. Legarda pointed out that the long-running conflict in the region has made socio economic development difficult.
She said that the Mindanao is home to 6 to 10 poorest provinces and 17 of the 20 poorest municipalities in the country, the armed conflicts since the 1970s have cost at least 120,000 lives and in 2000-2001 alone, 985,412 person have been displaced. The World Bank estimates that investment deflection not only from conflict afflicted areas, however from Mindanao as a whole increased the economic cost of the Mindanao conflict to more than $10 billion during the years 1975-2002. The widely hailed peace framework agreement is an opportunity that should be seized immediately to allow for economic progress.
The prospects for peace and prosperity in Mindanao should be welcome by all Filipinos with these figures as a backdrop. They must grab this opportunity now as it may not come again and commit to the economic component of the peace agreement or it will fail again. The chance may only happen in President Benigno Aquino’s time because of the desire for a sincere, honest and clean governance.
REFERENCE:
Ex-MNLF commander rallies support for PH-MILF peace deal
MILF, government peace deal must have economic package, says Legarda
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