Posted to the MILF Website (Aug 12): PNoy now poster boy for the Bangsamoro
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After encouraging the Congress during his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 22 to support the Bangsamoro, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is now the poster boy in the campaign for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, this time rallying Mindanao’s business sector to support the the Bangsamoro Basic Law by 2014,” MindaNews reported on August 9.
After encouraging the Congress during his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 22 to support the Bangsamoro, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is now the poster boy in the campaign for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, this time rallying Mindanao’s business sector to support the the Bangsamoro Basic Law by 2014,” MindaNews reported on August 9.
During his SONA he asked Congress “to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) before the end of 2014 so that we will have ample time to prepare the election of a new Bangsamoro Government come 2016”, President Aquino said.
At the opening of the 22nd Mindanao Business Conference on Thursday morning in Davao City, the President said that three years after he “told the whole world that the Philippines is open for business,” the country has become “one of the best performing economies in Asia” and that recently, Standard & Poor’s also projected that the Philippines will be outperforming its ASEAN neighbors in terms of economic growth.
Mindanao’s performance “was a large part of these achievements and distinctions,” and addressing the “most prominent business leaders in Mindanao,” he said, “I ask you today: continue working with us,” President Aquino further said as quoted by MindaNews.
“You can do so much to help: whether it is by lending your voices to encourage Congress to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law by 2014, or by sharing a calm, logical voice as we pursue the long-term solution to the power situation; whether it is by helping medium and small enterprises to succeed or by increasing your engagement in corporate social responsibility, particularly in education, health, and other social services,” he stressed.
Committed
“He is committed, that’s why. My President is serious that the peace process be completed. This is why he is personally leading the campaign,” Mujiv Hataman, Regional Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) told MindaNews in a text message.
Hataman knew when he filed his certificate of candidacy for ARMM Governor in November that he and the rest of the elected officials of the region will have to cut short their three-year term because the ARMM will be deemed abolished once the Bangsamoro Basic Law is ratified and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority takes over by 2015.
On October 15, 2012, the Government peace panel then headed by Atty. Marvic Leonen, now Justice of the Supreme Court and Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro to pave the way for the creation of a new autonomous political entity dubbed the “Bangsamoro,” by June 30, 2016.
On his part when asked to comment on President’s Aquino’s remarks, Mohagher Iqbal, MILF peace panel chair, said the President “should be appreciated for stressing the need to pass the Basic Law.” Iqbal chairs the 15-member Transition Commission (BTC), the body tasked to draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law. As of today, the BTC has held four sessions since it was created by President Aquino by virtue of Executive Order # 120.
“For us peace advocates, it is a thoughtful Hariraya Puasa gesture on the part of PNoy,” said lawyer Ishak Mastura, chair of the ARMM’s Board of Investments.
Good business, good for business
Samira Gutoc, former ARMM Assemblywoman said it is “about time that a head of state exercises political will in facilitating a settlement that has backtracked development for so long. And we need economic stewardship much more in ARMM now and the incoming Bangsamoro. We need trade – jobs, companies, banks setting up branches now in a place of some three million or so people.”
Att. Zainudin “Zen” Malang, chair of the Mindanao Human Rights Action Center (MinRHac) , said powerful business groups in Mindanao “must learn to accept that the peace process is good business, is good for business and that they need not fear genuine Bangsamoro empowerment.”
“No one needs to fear it; it is the contrary that is fearful. It is the contrary that is not good business. Preventing self-governance will prevent the economic potential of the conflict-affected region from being unleashed,” MindaNews quoted him saying.
Patricia Sarenas, chair of the Mindanao Coalition of Development Networks (Mincode) said the President has become a “rah-rah boy for the the Bangsamoro” and that she is “able to sleep better at night knowing that despite the terroristic attacks, I can see that with PNoy really committed to the Bangsamoro which shall usher in a just and lasting peace in Mindanao, my children and grandchildren will see brighter and peaceful days ahead in their land of birth.
Sarenas said Mincode “commits to helping PNoy in ways, big and small, to make Bangsamoro happen.” “Help build the Bangsamoro now”.
Irene Santiago, chair emeritus of the Mindanao Commission on Women said there is nothing more important for the country’s development than peace “and that peace is within our reach.”
“To ensure that Congress will pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law as drafted by the Transition Commission, women will watch Congress closely by forming Women’s Peace Tables in every congressional district in the entire country,” she said.
Mary Ann Arnado, secretary-general of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus wants the President to “sign the peace agreement once and for all so that the transition period can finally set in.”
“Business should perhaps lend their voices in asking PNoy to sign the peace agreement before the anniversary of the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, also in asking PNoy to break the impunity of human rights violations and extrajudicial killings by holding the violators accountable and putting them behind bars. What about known warlords and their private armies?”
Gus Miclat, executive director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) said “not only should the business sector encourage Congress to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law, they should help build the Bangsamoro now by providing input to the Bangsamoro Basic Law process, incorporating business perspectives that are aligned with the Bangsamoro aspirations and vision. Business should also lend its voice in condemning the spate of violence that is obviously meant to derail the inevitable march to peace,” MindaNews quoted Director Miclat.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/504-pnoy-now-poster-boy-for-the-bangsamoro
At the opening of the 22nd Mindanao Business Conference on Thursday morning in Davao City, the President said that three years after he “told the whole world that the Philippines is open for business,” the country has become “one of the best performing economies in Asia” and that recently, Standard & Poor’s also projected that the Philippines will be outperforming its ASEAN neighbors in terms of economic growth.
Mindanao’s performance “was a large part of these achievements and distinctions,” and addressing the “most prominent business leaders in Mindanao,” he said, “I ask you today: continue working with us,” President Aquino further said as quoted by MindaNews.
“You can do so much to help: whether it is by lending your voices to encourage Congress to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law by 2014, or by sharing a calm, logical voice as we pursue the long-term solution to the power situation; whether it is by helping medium and small enterprises to succeed or by increasing your engagement in corporate social responsibility, particularly in education, health, and other social services,” he stressed.
Committed
“He is committed, that’s why. My President is serious that the peace process be completed. This is why he is personally leading the campaign,” Mujiv Hataman, Regional Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) told MindaNews in a text message.
Hataman knew when he filed his certificate of candidacy for ARMM Governor in November that he and the rest of the elected officials of the region will have to cut short their three-year term because the ARMM will be deemed abolished once the Bangsamoro Basic Law is ratified and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority takes over by 2015.
On October 15, 2012, the Government peace panel then headed by Atty. Marvic Leonen, now Justice of the Supreme Court and Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro to pave the way for the creation of a new autonomous political entity dubbed the “Bangsamoro,” by June 30, 2016.
On his part when asked to comment on President’s Aquino’s remarks, Mohagher Iqbal, MILF peace panel chair, said the President “should be appreciated for stressing the need to pass the Basic Law.” Iqbal chairs the 15-member Transition Commission (BTC), the body tasked to draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law. As of today, the BTC has held four sessions since it was created by President Aquino by virtue of Executive Order # 120.
“For us peace advocates, it is a thoughtful Hariraya Puasa gesture on the part of PNoy,” said lawyer Ishak Mastura, chair of the ARMM’s Board of Investments.
Good business, good for business
Samira Gutoc, former ARMM Assemblywoman said it is “about time that a head of state exercises political will in facilitating a settlement that has backtracked development for so long. And we need economic stewardship much more in ARMM now and the incoming Bangsamoro. We need trade – jobs, companies, banks setting up branches now in a place of some three million or so people.”
Att. Zainudin “Zen” Malang, chair of the Mindanao Human Rights Action Center (MinRHac) , said powerful business groups in Mindanao “must learn to accept that the peace process is good business, is good for business and that they need not fear genuine Bangsamoro empowerment.”
“No one needs to fear it; it is the contrary that is fearful. It is the contrary that is not good business. Preventing self-governance will prevent the economic potential of the conflict-affected region from being unleashed,” MindaNews quoted him saying.
Patricia Sarenas, chair of the Mindanao Coalition of Development Networks (Mincode) said the President has become a “rah-rah boy for the the Bangsamoro” and that she is “able to sleep better at night knowing that despite the terroristic attacks, I can see that with PNoy really committed to the Bangsamoro which shall usher in a just and lasting peace in Mindanao, my children and grandchildren will see brighter and peaceful days ahead in their land of birth.
Sarenas said Mincode “commits to helping PNoy in ways, big and small, to make Bangsamoro happen.” “Help build the Bangsamoro now”.
Irene Santiago, chair emeritus of the Mindanao Commission on Women said there is nothing more important for the country’s development than peace “and that peace is within our reach.”
“To ensure that Congress will pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law as drafted by the Transition Commission, women will watch Congress closely by forming Women’s Peace Tables in every congressional district in the entire country,” she said.
Mary Ann Arnado, secretary-general of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus wants the President to “sign the peace agreement once and for all so that the transition period can finally set in.”
“Business should perhaps lend their voices in asking PNoy to sign the peace agreement before the anniversary of the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, also in asking PNoy to break the impunity of human rights violations and extrajudicial killings by holding the violators accountable and putting them behind bars. What about known warlords and their private armies?”
Gus Miclat, executive director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) said “not only should the business sector encourage Congress to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law, they should help build the Bangsamoro now by providing input to the Bangsamoro Basic Law process, incorporating business perspectives that are aligned with the Bangsamoro aspirations and vision. Business should also lend its voice in condemning the spate of violence that is obviously meant to derail the inevitable march to peace,” MindaNews quoted Director Miclat.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/504-pnoy-now-poster-boy-for-the-bangsamoro