President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. vowed on Monday to continue pushing for prosperity and development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as part of the administration’s commitment to relentlessly transform the region into a center of peace and order.
In his speech during the commemoration ceremony for the 10th Anniversary of the Signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), President Marcos said that long-lasting peace can be sustained “with a scoreboard of development.”
The commemoration ceremony marked a historical significance as it was held at the Camp Iranun in Barira, Maguindanao del Norte, a former camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the former site of MILF founder Ustadz Salamat Hashim’s residence.
“We knew that peace to our people will be found in businesses launched, in the jobs created, the schools and new hospitals opened, the farms irrigated, and the roads constructed,” President Marcos said.
“To us, there is only one peace – and that is when the bloody tally of war is replaced with a scoreboard of development. That scoreboard shows that peace was won, and the war is over.,” the chief executive added.
The CAB was signed between the government and the MILF on March 27, 2014, or 17 years after peace negotiations started in 1997. The CAB led to the achievement of numerous milestones in its political and normalization tracks 10 years from its signing.
With the theme, “CAB: Isang Dekada Tungo sa Mapayapa at Masaganang Bangsamoro,” the special occasion aims to promote awareness and sustain a strong peace constituency in support of the government-MILF peace process. It evokes a strong message on the transformative effect of building peace in former conflict-affected areas.
President Marcos said the government and the MILF can now claim that “the gains from 10 years of peace have undone many of the pains caused by decades of war.”
“Kung dati, lugar ito ng labanan, ngayon lugar na ito ng kapayapaan. Kung dati, dugo ang dumadanak dito, ngayon kaunlaran ang dumadaloy. How were we able to transform a bulwark of resistance into a bastion of cooperation? The answer is simple,” President Marcos said.
“Dahil tinalikuran natin ang karahasan at piniling tahakin ang landas ng kapayapaan. Niyakap ang kasunduang walang natalo, pero tao ang panalo. Dahil iginalang natin at ipinatupad ang CAB. But peace, I will state it again, is neither found in the documents we have exchanged, nor in the elegant prose of our agreements.,” he said. Peace is not only seen in the words of agreements, but can be done in reality, he added.
Before concluding his speech, President Marcos extended his gratitude to the peace partners coming from the MILF and the security sector, the various government agencies, the local government units (LGUs), the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, civil society groups and the international community.
The chief executive also thanked and recognized “all the peace-loving citizens” of the Bangsamoro for their contribution to the peace and progress in the region. He urged them to keep up the good job. |PND
