From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 31): Maguindanao supports call for BIFF to join peace process actively
Political leaders and residents of Maguindanao are supporting the call of the government peace panel for the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to take an active part in theMindanao peace process, officials said Friday.
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said there is no other local government in the country that desires for peace than Maguindanao and its people.
Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, chair of the government panel negotiating peace with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in an emailed statement Thursday said that the BIFF can be effective in the quest for peace if it joins with the process through diplomatic means and not through violence.
“We ask them to listen to the plea of their own brothers and sisters to give peace a chance,” Ferrer said.
Mangudadatu said it is also important for the MILF to use its influence to bring back the BIFF to the mainstream and help build a community of peaceful loving citizens that resolve issues through the negotiating table and not through the barrel of guns.
Due to ideological differences, BIFF founding chair Omra Ameril Kato broke away from the MILF in 2008 following the botched signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD)
"I believe that there is still a possibility that Kato and the MILF can reconcile and pursue common good of the Moro people," Mangudadatu said.
“If the status quo remains, it’s the civilians that suffer the brunt of conflict happening now," he added.
The provincial governor also said that he is certain Muslim religious leaders in the ranks of the MILF can convince the BIFF to change its course and toe the line the MILF took toward achieving peace in the island.
Mangudadatu added that most, if not all of those directly affected by the armed conflict in Maguindanao, are either relatives, wives and children of MILF or BIFF fighters.
"It pains me to see our people dislocated, get hungry and live in a very unhealthy condition in evacuation sites," he said.
Believing in the sincerity of both panels, Mangudadatu said he see no reason why conflict should still happen in the province when, all but the BIFF, are supportive of it.
“Maguindanao political leaders are hoping that sectors opposed to the peace process will gradually realize that the so-called `Moro issue’ can never be resolved through an armed uprising, for conflicts will only make Moro communities become poorer and poorer,” Mangudadatu said at a news conference.
Mangudadatu is worried the recent conflict will again destroy the socioeconomic programs his administration has envisioned and started to implement in Maguindanao's 36 municipalities.
"These programs are for our people. But how can they benefit from it if armed conflict continues," he said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=611529
Political leaders and residents of Maguindanao are supporting the call of the government peace panel for the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to take an active part in the
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said there is no other local government in the country that desires for peace than Maguindanao and its people.
Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, chair of the government panel negotiating peace with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in an emailed statement Thursday said that the BIFF can be effective in the quest for peace if it joins with the process through diplomatic means and not through violence.
“We ask them to listen to the plea of their own brothers and sisters to give peace a chance,” Ferrer said.
Mangudadatu said it is also important for the MILF to use its influence to bring back the BIFF to the mainstream and help build a community of peaceful loving citizens that resolve issues through the negotiating table and not through the barrel of guns.
Due to ideological differences, BIFF founding chair Omra Ameril Kato broke away from the MILF in 2008 following the botched signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD)
"I believe that there is still a possibility that Kato and the MILF can reconcile and pursue common good of the Moro people," Mangudadatu said.
“If the status quo remains, it’s the civilians that suffer the brunt of conflict happening now," he added.
The provincial governor also said that he is certain Muslim religious leaders in the ranks of the MILF can convince the BIFF to change its course and toe the line the MILF took toward achieving peace in the island.
Mangudadatu added that most, if not all of those directly affected by the armed conflict in Maguindanao, are either relatives, wives and children of MILF or BIFF fighters.
"It pains me to see our people dislocated, get hungry and live in a very unhealthy condition in evacuation sites," he said.
Believing in the sincerity of both panels, Mangudadatu said he see no reason why conflict should still happen in the province when, all but the BIFF, are supportive of it.
“Maguindanao political leaders are hoping that sectors opposed to the peace process will gradually realize that the so-called `Moro issue’ can never be resolved through an armed uprising, for conflicts will only make Moro communities become poorer and poorer,” Mangudadatu said at a news conference.
Mangudadatu is worried the recent conflict will again destroy the socioeconomic programs his administration has envisioned and started to implement in Maguindanao's 36 municipalities.
"These programs are for our people. But how can they benefit from it if armed conflict continues," he said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=611529