Towards the implementation of the Bangsamoro

The root cause of the current situation in Mindanao is poverty and not differences in culture and tradition, former President of the Republic of the Philippines Fidel V. Ramos said in a talk entitled “KamalAEAn 2013: Bangsamoro and the Economics of Peace” held at Ateneo de Manila University’s Leong Hall Auditorium.

“The fighting in Mindanao by so many different groups and the government itself is not because of differences in belief, certainly not in ideology but the fighting is because of the poverty of the people in Mindanao especially (of) those that rebel against the government,” he said.

He added that the integration of the rebels into the Armed Forces of the Philippines was what have been absent in all independence movements all along. “Aside from the cease fire, aside from the development, aside from the enduring stability, aside from the economic progress, the one unique element that have been absent in all territorial Islamic versus Christian, islamic versus jew, Or independence movements, was the integration of the rebels into the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Ramos said.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (ARMM) executive secretary and OIC Regional Human Rights Director of the Commission of Human Rights in ARMM Laisa Alamia meanwhile said that ARMM was indeed a failed experiment with the presence of a lot of socio economic problems, conflict-affected area, violence, and the region with the worst human development index in the country.

She also described when ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman stepped into office, “there were ghosts schools, ghost teachers, ghost students, and ghost employees.”

In preparation of the transition from ARMM to Bangsamoro, Alamia said that they are doing “feasible, quick-impact, high impact, community-driven, community-felt programs, projects, and initiatives” by 2015.

Atty. Armi Bayot, Assistant Solicitor, Office of the Solicitor-General & Legal Team Member of the GPH Negotiating Panel to the MILF, discussed the Annex on Revenue Generation and Wealth-Sharing during the talk. She said that the annex is crucial in the operations of the future Bangsamoro.

Ramos encouraged the audience to take part in the happenings in Mindanao because it will definitely impact us as well as our neigbors. “All of us our stakeholders.Whatever happens in Midnanao will impact the entire Phils. And even our neighbors.” He added, “Nobody is excused from being interested and being committed to enduring peace and sustainable development in Mindanao because that means  enduring peace and sustainable development in the Philippines.”

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