President Aquino announces Framework Agreement
between the Government and the MILF on peace
President Benigno S. Aquino III announced on
Sunday that the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was
nearing the forging of a Framework Agreement on peace aimed at ending the
conflict that has spanned two generations and has taken the lives of more than
100,000 Filipinos.
In his speech before Cabinet officials and
members of the media in Malacañang, the President said the Framework Agreement
laid down the ground work for achieving the “final and enduring peace in
Mindanao" by enjoining all stakeholders to support the implementation of
the needed “structural reforms.”
“This Framework Agreement paves the way for a
final, enduring peace in Mindanao. It brings all former secessionist groups
into the fold; no longer does the Moro Islamic Liberation Front aspire for a
separate state,” the President said.
“This means that hands that once held rifles
will be put to use tilling land, selling produce, manning work stations, and
opening doorways of opportunity for other citizens,” he added.
He said that under the Framework Agreement, a
new “political entity” will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM) and will be named “Bangsamoro.”
“This agreement creates a new political entity,
and it deserves a name that symbolizes and honors the struggles of our
forebears in Mindanao, and celebrates the history and character of that part of
our nation. That name will be Bangsamoro,” the President stressed.
The President said that government negotiators
and representatives of the MILF who had been holding peace talks in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, will soon come out with the draft guidelines on the Framework
Agreement in the next few days.
“In the next few days, the basic principles and
outline of the Agreement will be published in various periodicals; the Official
Gazette of our government will post the Agreement in full. I urge everyone to
participate in free and public discourse before the final signing. Everything
will be disclosed; we have no desire to keep secrets. To the best of our
ability, we have examined these agreements; we believe we have reached balance
and common ground. As a result, we have rectified the errors of the past, and
installed mechanisms to make sure they do not recur,” the President said. PND
(rck)
