ARMM provinces to celebrate signing of peace deal with concerts

ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Free musical concerts will be staged in all five provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao when the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro is signed in Manila on March 27, a regional official said here Friday.

ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Masuhod-Alamia said that the free musical concerts, which will feature Moro artists and other performers here and in the five ARMM provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, are part of the celebration that the regional government and private groups have lined up for the event.

She said many residents would not be able to personally witness the signing of the agreement in Manila, which was why the regional government of Governor Mujiv Hataman thought of other ways for them to celebrate the historic event.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said that banners and t-shirts emblazoned with messages welcoming the signing will be distributed to as many people on  the day of the signing of the CAB.

“It will be a colorful celebration as we welcome the coming event and thank Allah for the blessing,” Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief, said.

Jaafar said Friday that the streamers that will be strung up along national highways and provincial roads in Mindanao “will create public awareness that the Moro struggle for self-determination would soon be realized with the establishment of the Bangsamoro ministerial form of government under the Philippine Republic by 2016.”

Jaafar said the MILF will be sending a large delegation to Manila for the signing, probably  “300 to 500 ranking MILF members from the central and provincial committees, including ground commanders.”