ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Oct 11 (PIA) – Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) are squarely behind the efforts of the Aquino administration to
forge a “framework peace agreement” with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) before the end of the year, ARMM Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman assured
recently.
In a press release,
the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) disclosed
that the OIC ARMM Governor spoke before an OPAPP-organized general assembly in
Pasig City and assured the assembly that ARMM officials are prepared to fully
support the establishment of the proposed new autonomous political entity (NPE)
that was being envisioned in the peace negotiations with the MILF.
Hataman said the
series of reforms that he was pursuing in the ARMM were a “part of promoting
the peace process in preparing the ARMM for the eventual signing of the peace
agreement (between the government and the MILF).”
“Kami po
transitional lang ang presence namin (Our presence is only transitional),”
Hataman said.
It can be recalled
that President Benigno Aquino III signed into law Republic Act 10153
synchronizing the ARMM elections to the national polls in May 2013 and
authorizing the president to appoint officers-in-charge in the region, thereby
providing opportunities for the government to implement drastic reforms.
With the
synchronized elections, candidates for the ARMM elections are also expected to
file their certificates of candidacy next week, Hataman said.
Saying that he was
optimistic about the success of the peace talks, Hataman pointed out that
implementing the needed political and economic reforms in the region was
imperative to ensure good governance once the new NPE takes over the existing
ARMM structure.
In his speech,
Hataman commended the OPAPP and the members of the government panel of
negotiators for holding a series of consultative meetings with ARMM local
officials and for allowing the various sectors in the region to take part in
helping ensure the success of the peace process.
In the same
assembly, OPAPP Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles reiterated the assurance that
the contents of the proposed “framework agreement” with the MILF would be
presented to the Filipino people before any signing would be undertaken.
“We are at an
opportune time because we are close to a framework agreement with the MILF,”
Deles said. The agreement, Deles explained, is not yet the final peace
agreement, but “it will pave the way to several agreements to make sure that
people are clear with what the commitments are towards achieving just and
lasting peace.”
Deles further
emphasized that any agreement reached this year is only the first and easier
step. "Implementation is where the real hard and complicated work begins
in achieving peace in Mindanao."