The Marcos administration renewed its commitment on Saturday to ensure peaceful, orderly, and credible first Bangsamoro regional elections next year, aiming to transform the lives of the Muslim population in Mindanao.
“Iyong sa BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) po very clear ang instruction ni Presidente – so, there shall be a peaceful, orderly and credible first BARMM elections in 2025,” Director Darwin Wally Wee from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) said in a news forum in Quezon City.
“So, ang message po ni President very clear: there shall be peaceful, orderly, pinakaimportante po credible election in the BARMM. Iyon iyong ini-expect po natin by next year.”
Wee emphasized that all signed peace agreements in the Bangsamoro focus on the political rights of the Muslim people to determine their own destiny and how to put that into action.
Highlighting the importance of peace in national development, Wee called for public support to achieve long-term peace.
“As we always say, we need the support of the Filipino people, particularly for the Marcos administration’s efforts to end all armed conflicts. We cannot move forward as a divided nation, and if we want to achieve a ‘tiger economy,’ peace must prevail,” he stressed.
“Kaya po nanawagan po talaga kami ‘no, peace hindi lang siya peace month let’s do it in a daily, now, weekly na monthly na year-long and a lifetime service po,” he added.
The nation is already reaping the benefits of the peace process in Mindanao, according to OPAPRU Director Dennis Legaspi from the agency’s International and Private Partnerships Office.
Due to the government’s comprehensive peace initiatives, which also address groups like the Abu Sayyaf, the Maute Gang, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), the lives of former rebels have been transformed, Legaspi said.
“Eventually, as the peace process progress, mawawala na iyong rason eh kung bakit sila nagrerebelde, because we have a system in the peace process, particularly in the Bangsamoro na mas mataas pa iyong political empowerment they have their own voices,” Legaspi said.
“Now, if they want to change the society hindi na through the barrel fronts, they can join the parliaments, they can come up with policies. So, lastly, [we’re] gradually changing towards the… to fully sustain the views of the peace process,” he stated. PND
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