ARMM polls in 2013 to go on with or without peace pact with MILF — Deles

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) would push through with or without the Philippine government’s signing of a

Sec. Teresita Deles. INQUIRER file photo

peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said.

“This is a presidential commitment to fulfill when a law was passed synchronizing the ARMM elections with the midterm elections in May,” Presidential Peace Process Adviser Teresita Deles said in a statement.

Deles, however, expressed optimism that “anytime soon, before the year ends, a peace agreement with the MILF shall have been signed.”

She said the holding of the “Bangsamoro Leaders Assembly,” attended by an estimated 300,000 in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao from July 6-8, could be the final consultative phase of the MILF’s desire to attain peace and understanding among the inhabitants in Mindanao.

“We are closing in to that most awaited part of the GPH-MILF peace negotiation,” said Deles, but declined to categorically say exactly when.

Major General Rey Ardo, commander of the military’s 6th Infantry Division, said military men and Moro fighters showed camaraderie when they assisted civilians and other participants in getting into the assembly site at Barangay Darapanan, a known MILF sanctuary.

Lawyer Marvic Leonen, the government’s chief peace negotiator in talks with MILF, lauded military and police authorities for the smooth and orderly conduct of the MILF-initiated consultative meeting with the government providing the needed transportation and food supplies.

“We saw the ‘bayanihan spirit’ at work and this is a good sign conducive to a much better event to come in the peace process,” said Leonen, who bragged that this year, the police reported no skirmishes between government and MILF forces.

Leonen, however, in a statement said both parties must continue to exercise patience and perseverance in the peace process as the road to peace has been so far tough and expensive and would continue to be so.

“The peace process is not cheap, that’s why the national government has to allocate P8.5 billion in stimulus funds, apart from the P11 billion in annual budget of ARMM,” he said of the huge amount intended to fast track implementation of programs concerning education, public works, health, agriculture, natural resources, livelihood and the environment.

“We have saved a lot of lives, properties and government resources with President Aquino’s road to peace as against an `all-out war’ against insurgents and misguided elements of society,” said the ARMM police director, Chief Superintendent Mario Avenido.