ARMM peace gab set

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines –  A peace summit aimed to bring together all the stakeholders in the search for a just and lasting peace in war-torn Mindanao kicks off in Marawi City on Tuesday, a top official of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao announced yesterday.

Through the maiden region-wide peace confab, where US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas was invited as keynote speaker, the ARMM seeks to play a more active role in peace-building and development in the so-called “Land of Promise” wracked by decades of internal conflicts.

A multi-sector consultative gathering will immediately follow in Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, all ARMM component provinces, and in Cotabato City, where the body will meet for two days to come up with the a new peace protocol the organizers hope will be adopted by the Aquino administration in its talks with Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is fighting for an independent Islamist state in the South.

Program facilitator Romeo Sema said the MILF, along with the mainstream Moro National Liberation Front, which signed a peace accord with the government in 1996, as well as civil society, religious and other peace advocate groups, had assured attendance.

“We expect a full house,” said Sema, a key MNLF official and director of the ARMM Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission.

Active support

A key figure in the successful settlement of many local feuds, the RRUC is pursuing what acting Regional Gov. Hookie Alonto-Adiong described as a paradigm shift in the ARMM’s role in the peace process.

Regional executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo said Adiong, who chairs the peace summit steering committee, wanted a departure from the previous “passive” stance of ARMM leaders in the implementation of the 1996 GRP-MNLF peace agreement and in government talks with the MILF.

The summit is being co-sponsored by the provincial government of Lanao del Sur led by Gov. Mamintal “Bombit” Alonto-Adiong Jr., a known local peace advocate.

“The succeeding episodes will be similarly held under the aegis of the local government units of Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi,” said Sinarimbo in a statement.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu yesterday expressed his active support to the peace-building consultations, saying his fledgling administration was also pursuing reconciliation and pacification campaign.

The feedbacks gathered from the field would be collated and discussed during the summit and would form part of the ARMM’s agenda for a more comprehensive and cohesive peace and development thrust in Mindanao.  

“A position paper will then be crafted for submission to the Aquino administration for possible adoption in its peace agenda,” said Sinarimbo.