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Friday, March 31, 2006
Espinoza: Peace and funds for Mindanao
By Fred C. Espinoza
International donors are closely watching the progress of the go-vernment’s peace initiatives with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
According to the latest report, the World Bank (WB) and three countries already signed the first phase of the Mindanao Trust Fund (MTF) Reconstruction and Development Program that provides financial support to conflict-affected areas in the south.
WB country director Joachim von Amsberg said the $2.7-million phase I of the program will be made available to Mindanao even before the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the MILF. Peace negotiators of both sides would do well to bring the talks to a successful conclusion as soon as possible.
As Mr. Amsberg also emphasized donor agencies “have committed to raise as much as $50 million for the second phase of the (MTF) program, which will be available after the signing of the peace accord within this year.
Other international donors to the first component of the MTF are: Australia, represented by Ambassador Anthony Hely; Canada, represented by Ambassador Peter Sutherland; New Zealand, represented by New Zealand Agency for International Development manager Patrice Tan and Sweden.
What can be so important about the program, as Amsberg had pointed out, is that the “initial fund would help unlock more international support for Mindanao.”
Let’ s hope that the lofty purpose of concerned international donor-countries will give our government and the MILF something to talk about and, if possible, come up with a win-win- situation soon for the sake of the suffering humanity in the area.
In another development, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves has appealed for an early debate on the economic provisions of the 1997 Constitution by Congress and to agree to the removal of its restrictive policies “to draw more foreign investors to the country.”
Teves told reporters during a press briefing at the Clark Special Economic Zone that he would like something “to take place at a minimum which is to move the economic provisions away from the Constitution, and that these be debated in Congress.”
The Malacañang-formed Consultative Commission on Charter Change proposed the removal of the protectionist policies on ownership of land, use and exploitation of natural resources, public utilities, education and mass media.
But most people I’ve talked to said the country would be lucky enough if the senators can be persuaded to hold an early debate on the matter, taking into account the controversy surrounding the charter change movement being pursued by the administration through the people’s initiative.
On the other hand, despite the apparent gridlock between the Senate and the House of Representatives, the mining sector has adopted an optimistic outlook on the future of the industry.
If yesterday’s report is to be believed, foreign investors have nothing to worry about investing in the Philippines despite a review of the country’s mining law following pressure from the country’s powerful Catholic Church, according to the head of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, Benjamin Philip Romualdez.
“I doubt very much that it (mining law) will ever change. That (change) would lead to a loss of absolute credibility on the part of the Philippine government and the Philippine president, said Romualdez, who is also head of Benguet Corp., the oldest mine in the country.
He said the Philippines is dependent on foreign investors “to tap an estimated $1-trillion in mineral wealth.”
The government has said the reexamination of the law, which allows for full foreign ownership of local mines, was simply to address environmental concerns raised by the country’s powerful Catholic bishops and not a rewrite of ownership rules.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 31, 2006 issue)
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