Aquino leads launching of ‘Sajahatra Bangsamoro’

IN AN effort to hasten the peace process in Mindanao, President Benigno Aquino III and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair Al Haj Murad led the launching of “Sajahatra Bangsamoro” at the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute (BLMI) in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on Monday.

Aquino and Murad led officials of both parties during the launching that aimed to uplift health, education and the socio-economic program of civilian communities in Mindanao, including the indigenous peoples.

Sajahatra, which means peace, is a word common to most Moro ethnic tribes. The word has Malayo-Polynesian root.

One of the functions of the Transition Commission in the newly signed Bangsamoro Framework Agreement is to look into the socio-economic program for the Bangsamoro communities in Mindanao.

In a statement, Secretary Jose Rene Almendras and Esmail Pasigan said the program signifies the partnership of the government and the MILF in working towards peace and development of the Bangsamoro people.

Almendras and Pasigan are both members of the MILF Peace Panel Secretariat and coordinator of the project.

Also present during the launching were Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles, the Government of the Philippines peace panel led by Chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, the MILF Peace Panel led by its Chair Mohagher Iqbal, and other members of the central leadership of the MILF, as well as representatives from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Department of Agriculture and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. ((Abigail Chee Kee Malalis)