People’s support to CAB, Bangsamoro law crucial to Mindanao peace — MILF

Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief. FILE PHOTO

BULUAN, Philippines — The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) serves as the vehicle to progress for the Moro people but it would not move forward if not given the support it needs.

This was how Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief, described the role of the recently signed pact in achieving the “common” goal of peace and progress in Mindanao.

Jaafar spoke before 1,000 people gathered here for the grand kanduli (thanksgiving) for the CAB, which was hosted by the provincial government.

“This is our truck, let’s ride it towards our betterment,” Jaafar said, adding that the support from the people and the leaders would serve as the CAB’s fuel.

He said the people could attain development and progress in Mindanao if the people and leaders — including the traditional datus – would unite behind the CAB and the envisioned Bangsamoro Basic Law.

“It’s impossible not to succeed towards our goal of a better life for the Bangsamoro,” he said.

Jaafar said the areas proposed for inclusion in the Bangsamoro territory could fuel their growth because of the abundance of resources that needed only to be tapped.

“We have all the resources except uranium. If we do not succeed, it could be because Allah decides not to help us because of our own doing, because we are fragmented,” he said.

Jaafar personally appealed to the leaders of the Bangsamoro areas to bury their disputes.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said he could speak for his family and allies in assuring the MILF of their commitment to peace.

“We were born in war, we grew up with the sound of guns and the cries of those who lost their loved ones. We grew tired of that and we don’t want our children to grow up in violence too,” he said.

Mangudadatu said the development of poor areas of Maguindanao was his main objective at becoming a politician.

He said it’s a fact that the land of Maguindanao is full of resources, which was why investors were coming here.

He cited Del Monte Fresh as among companies that recently invested in the province to develop banana fields.

But he said these investments would not prosper if peace was lacking.

“That’s why we started settling feuds because there can never be peace if people are fighting each other. We educate our youth through a massive scholarship program to give them tools as they tackle life and we try to provide livelihood to our farmers so they could support their families,” he said.

Mangudadatu said these were only some of the programs he had listed under an eight-point agenda.

Jaafar said he was appealing to those in rival Moro factions to give the agreement a chance.

“We suffered together in the battlefield (when there was a united front). We started this fight and now we achieved what we wanted, let us stand up for this as one,” he said.

Jaafar admitted that not everything that Moro revolutionaries had wanted were included in the CAB.

But what is important, he said, “is we now have something to start with.”

Jaafar added that the Moro people should strive to show the government that “what it granted, we could harness towards self determination of the Bangsamoro.”

Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, said they would like to see the Moro people in a better condition because the leaders of the revolution were not getting younger.

“We are now in the twilight of our lives and we want to leave a legacy for our youth. This is not just for Muslims but all the people of Bangsamoro – Christians included,” he said.

“It’s much better to wake up to the smell of vegetation than the smell of gun powder,” Mangudadatu said.

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