Bishops welcome GPH-MILF wealth-sharing deal

Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad

MANILA, Philippines — Some Catholic bishops in Mindanao on Monday welcomed the wealth-sharing deal that the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have signed over the weekend in Malaysia as part of the final peace agreement.

But in the same breath, they expressed hope that the leaders from both parties would exercise transparency in implementing the agreement and will honestly deliver basic services to the people of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“We only hope that the leaders will honestly deliver the basic services that belong to the people,” said Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad on Monday.

“In the past, some regional governments were corrupt and both the Muslims and Christians in the ARMM suffered,” Jumoad noted.

He said the problem then was that government leaders lacked sincerity and honesty in implementing projects intended for the people.

Over Church-run Radio Veritas, Jolo Bishop Angelito Lampon also said the wealth-sharing deal was a welcome development, noting that it was important that the peace process was advancing.

“It’s important that the peace process is moving. The agreement can even be revised and the people would have to adhere to future negotiation. It can be bigger than what the present MILF is asking,” said Lampon.

Initially, the government had bargained for a bigger share in the income from taxes and natural resources in the proposed Bangsamoro autonomous region in Mindanao but the MILF pushed that it receive the bigger share.

In the end, both panels agreed to split equally earnings from fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, coal and uranium. The government also agreed to let Bangsamoro have a 75-percent share of revenue from metallic minerals.

Lampon, currently the chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Inter-Religious Dialogue, said he was confident that the provisions of the wealth-sharing deal are for the common good in Mindanao.

But he added that a “legislative assembly” or a body should be created to oversee how the income will be translated with transparency and accountability into services for the people. He also said the body will also determine which place in the Bangsamoro should benefit a certain project and how much should be spend for it.

Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo also expressed the same hope that there will be transparency in the agreement for the true realization of the Bangsamoro territory.