Board supports new peace pact

THE Provincial Board of Misamis Oriental approved on Monday a resolution expressing support to the efforts of President Benigno Aquino III in building lasting peace in Mindanao through the crafting of a framework agreement that will create a new Bangsamoro region in Malaysia.

The resolution, authored by Vice Governor Norris Babiera, stated that the initial agreement is a manifestation of the Aquino administration’s sincere support for a peaceful Mindanao.

Babiera said the four decades of armed conflict in Mindanao have claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers, secessionist, warriors and innocent civilians, which hamper the growth of the region.

He said although several proposed solutions were tried, peace and stability, which are the primary keys towards overall sustainable progress, remain elusive.

Babiera said the government has taken necessary peace initiatives to encourage those involved in armed conflicts to return to the folds of the law and to live peacefully and harmoniously with their countrymen.

On Sunday, Aquino announced that the government already drafted a framework agreement that will scrap the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (Armm) and replace it with the new Bangsamoro region.

The agreement has yet to be signed, pending its publication in major newspapers in the next days.

Aquino said the government will give the public enough time to study the agreement and file protests, if there are any.

He said this will prevent the repeat of the botched Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) that was declared invalid by the Supreme Court in 2008 for violating provisions of the Philippine Constitution.

The MOA-AD would have allowed the Moro people to gain full control of the yet-to-be-created Bangsamoro region.

The agreement also seeks to ensure that the Philippines remain one nation and one people, with all of its diverse cultures seeking the common goal of lasting progress. (With Sunnex)