Monday’s commemoration of the infamous Jabidah Massacre must be seen in the light of the government initiative to bring lasting peace in Mindanao, Malacañang said on Sunday.
President Aquino will speak on Corregidor Island Monday afternoon at rites marking the 45th anniversary of the slaughter of Muslim recruits training for a purported plan to invade Sabah in 1968.
Fighting between Malaysian security forces and a group of armed followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in Sabah casts a dark shadow on Monday’s rites on Corregidor.
Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said the commemoration highlighted the government’s solidarity with the Bangsamoro’s aspiration to be part of the Filipino nation.
“We are manifesting our solidarity with the Bangsamoro people by honoring the memory of the youth who were killed in the Jabidah Massacre that was exposed by then Sen. Ninoy Aquino,” Coloma said by phone.
By gracing the groundbreaking ceremony for the Garden of Peace, a memorial to the victims in Corregidor, the President will honor the memory and heroism of the slain Muslim youths, officials said.
Aquino will deliver a speech, after which he will visit the Jabidah Marker where he will press his hand on the Hands for Peace Wall.