Sec. Teresita Quintos-Deles During the Opening of the 4th GPH-MNLF-OIC Tripartite Meeting in Jeddah
Peace be upon all of us:
Assalamu alaikum.
At the outset, please allow me to express the sense and gratitude of the Filipino People to the Organization of Islamic Conference for its unceasing concern and attention on our quest for a sustainable peace in Southern Philippines. It was under the auspices of the Organization of Islamic Conference that the Tripoli Agreement of December 23, 1976, was signed. It was also through the active support of the Organization of Islamic Conference that the Final Agreement to Implement the Tripoli Agreement of 1976 was signed on September 2, 1996.
The Organization of Islamic Conference has accompanied the GPH and the MNLF in their difficult journey on the path of peace as they sought the satisfactory implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement. The Tenth Session of the Islamic Summit held in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on October 16-17, 2003 (20-21 Shaaban 1424), recognized the significant developments which have taken place in the implementation of the 1996 GRP-MNLF Peace Agreement thus far then, particularly the result of the plebiscite held on August 14, 2002; the election on November 26, 2001, of Dr. Parouk Hussin as the new Governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao; and the completion in May, 2003, of the integration process of MNLF armed elements into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in accordance with the provisions of the 1996 Peace Agreement and the national laws of the Republic of the Philippines.
The 31st Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers held in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 14-16, 2004, furthermore declared that Phase I of the 1996 Peace Agreement had been successfully completed, which declaration was affirmed by the 32nd Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers held in Sana’a, Yemen, on June 28-30, 2005 (28-30 Jumada al-Uwla, 1426H).
Ten years after the signing of the Final Peace Agreement, the 33rd Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, held in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 19-21, 2006, expressed its concern over the seemingly stalled implementation of the other commitments enshrined in the 1996 Agreement, as the two parties contested each other’s assessment of what have or have not been achieved in its implementation. Accordingly, the Conference called for an urgent, high-level tripartite meeting between the OIC, the Government of the Republic of Philippines (or GRP, now GPH), and the MNLF to be held in Jeddah as soon as practicable in 2006 with two objectives at hand:
1. Review the implementation of the 1996 peace agreement and assess the progress made and the obstacles facing its full implementation; and
2. Draw up modalities for a new Joint Monitoring Committee to observe the implementation of the peace agreement, verify complaints in this regard, and facilitate agreement on solutions to such complaints.
It took more than a year before high level tripartite talks could convene. The Joint Working Groups constituted by the First Tripartite Meeting identified the issues in the implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement. Of the 36 issues, the Joint Working Groups were able to identify common proposals on only 15 matters, leaving 21 concerns for further study. Thereafter, the Third Tripartite Meeting constituted the Legal Panel which was mandated to forge common ground on the remaining issues. It took the Legal Panel twenty-two months to find common grounds on 18 additional concerns, leaving only three issues unresolved.
We have already commended the Legal Panel, chaired jointly by MNLF Founding Chairman Nur Misuari and Justice Undersecretary Leah Armamento, for reaching such common grounds within the first six months following the assumption into office of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. Both the common proposals and common grounds submitted by the Joint Working Groups and the Legal Panel now constitute proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 9054 enacted by the Congress of the Philippines as provided for in the 2nd Phase of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement.
Please allow us the honor of extending our congratulations to the GPH and MNLF Secretariats for transforming the common proposals and common grounds into the legal form initialled by Director Susan Marcaida and Dr. Alipekre Basher on January 15, 2011, in the presence of the Legal Panel witnessed by some Ambassadors to the Philippines of the Member-countries of the OIC Peace Committee for Southern Philippines.
We also take note of the pending proposal for the establishment of a fund mechanism for Bangsamoro development. The Communiqué of the 2nd Session of the Tripartite Meeting held on February 14, 2008, highlighted the cardinal importance of social and economic development that depends on the creation of a climate of peace and security through confidence-building measures that include rehabilitation, relief, and reconstruction, with special concern for the plight of internally displaced people. The 3rd Session of the GRP-MNLF-OIC Tripartite Meeting at the Heritage Hotel, Pasay City on March 11-13, 2009 again welcomed the proposal for the establishment of a peace and development fund mechanism for Southern Philippines that will be supported by OIC member countries and OIC Special Bodies. The details of such a Peace and Development Fund will be worked out by the two parties through a joint mechanism to be agreed upon.
We also recall that the 37th Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers held last year, May 18 to 20, 2010, urged OIC Member States, subsidiary organs, and specialized and affiliated institutions as well as benevolent Islamic organizations in the Member States to increase their medical, humanitarian, economic, financial, and technical assistance for the development of Southern Philippines with a view to accelerating the pace of social and economic development in the affected areas. The 37th Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers further urged the Philippine Government to agree to the General Secretariat’s request to send a joint delegation of the OIC, IDB and other Islamic NGOs willing to undertake a needs assessment in the areas to be covered. We say now that we will not only consent to such joint delegation for needs assessment, we will welcome such initiative. Such assessment can help determine the fund strategies, mechanisms, and governing structures needed to ensure that Fund resources will go where they are most needed. Thereafter, the Philippine Government and the Organization of Islamic Conference with the active participation of the Moro National Liberation Front may design and administer the proposed Bangsamoro Development Assistance Fund.
With the roadmap provided by the GPH-MNLF-OIC Tripartite Meetings covering the desired amendment of Republic Act No. 9054 and the proposed socio-economic development directions and initiatives, the baseline, parameters and targets for a more satisfactory implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement will have been set in place. These will further assist the Philippine Government and Moro National Liberation Front, with the active support of the Organization of Islamic Conference, in drawing up the scope, targets indicators, mechanisms and operation of the appropriate Tripartite Monitoring Mechanism, as put forward by the 33rd Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers.
This February, we are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the People Power Revolution that swept President Corazon Aquino to office and enshrined in the Philippine Constitution the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Divine providence would decree that a key actor in the 1986 People Power uprising, then-General Fidel Valdes Ramos, would later assume the presidency and conclude the Final Peace Agreement between the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front. Twenty-five years later this coming Friday, the celebration is marked more significantly by the recent resumption by the Government of formal talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the National Democratic Front, respectively. In addition, Government is in dialogue with the Cordillera Peoples’ Liberation Army in northern Luzon and the RPMP-RPA-ABB in Central Philippines for the completion and final closure of the peace agreements signed with them. We are off to an extremely busy but interesting and hopeful start given this number of simultaneous tables that are on course at the moment.
And, here and now, we are pleased to receive and transmit the Report of the Legal Panel, transforming to a legal form the common grounds and common proposals jointly adopted, as well as to indicate our readiness to consent to and receive the Joint Needs Assessment Mission and our resolve to jointly establish an appropriate and meaningful Tripartite Monitoring Mechanism. The gravity of this Tripartite Meeting is manifested by the membership of our delegation with myself, as Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, as Head of Delegation.
I am very pleased indeed to introduce the members of the Government delegation to this very important meeting:
. The Honorable SECRETARY RONALDO LLAMAS, Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs
2. Madame ZENONIDA BROSAS, Deputy Director General, National Security Council
3. Madame LEAH TANODRA-ARMAMENTO, Undersecretary of Justice
4. Lieutenant General RAYMUNDO FERRER, Commander, Western Mindanao Command
5. The Honorable Datu ESMAIL MANGUDADATU, Governor, Province of Maguindanao
6. Consul General EZZEDIN TAGO, Philippine Embassy to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
7. Atty. NAGUIB SINARIMBO, Executive Secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
8. Atty. ANSELMO ABUNGAN, Assistant Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources
9. Atty. EDILWASSIF BADDIRI, Commissioner, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos
10. Atty. ARIFA ALAUYA-ALA, Islamic Banking Unit, Central Bank
11. Atty. JOSE LORENA, former Chair, MNLF Mixed Committee on Economic Concerns
12. The Honorable ZIAUR RAHMAN ADIONG, Assemblyman of the Regional Assembly of the of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindananao,
13. Mr. KANGGO UMAL, Regional Treasurer of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
14. Madame POMBAEN KADER , Secretary for Social Welfare and Development of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
15. Madame FATMAWATI SALAPUDDIN, Civil Society Organization Representative
16. Madame BAINON KARON, Civil Society Organization Representative
17. Madame YASMIN BUSRAN LAO, Civil Society Organization Representative
18. Atty. ZOILO VELASCO, Department of Foreign Affairs
19. Director SUSANA H MARCAIDA, Director of OPAPP Mindanao Affairs Office and Head of GPH Secretariat for the Tripartite Meetings
20. Miss HELEN ROJAS, Deputy Head of GPH Secretariat for the Tripartite Meetings.
There is much work to be done, with due diligence to be applied on all issues. The Philippine Government, under the leadership of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, does not want to sign any agreement or statement that it cannot uphold and implement. Thus, we have brought the full force of government, from national to regional to local government levels, to show the seriousness in our intent to bring proper closure to a process that has gone on for too long. The intention of the current Aquino administration is to move this process from dialogue on the table to implementation on the ground, so that we can use the remaining period of our term to ensure that commitments are delivered especially to the communities which have carried the heaviest burden of this conflict. We do not want to turn over another unfinished business to the next administration. It stops with us.
We owe it to the people of Mindanao, and especially the Bangsamoro, to make up for the time lost on protracted processes by coming to terms with a more certain future – one that speaks about the interests at stake in less ambiguous terms, so that we can move forward once and for all. I am praying for a dialogue that will be real – not just one that will make us feel good, but one where we can all be forthright in asking the hard questions. And one such hard question is: If we are all so committed to peace as we declare ourselves to be, if we truly uphold the welfare of our people above our own personal interests as we say we do, then why are we still in the position where we are now? The answer will be made by all of us in the next two days. Needless to say, the future rests on our shoulders. It is a heavy load to carry but it is part of our duty to be hopeful because, if we aren’t, then why are we still here?
\Let us continue to stand up and insist on staying the course, persist in drawing lessons for the future, in affirming capacities and hope, in celebrating faith and fortitude. We come here with the trust of knowing that, in each of our hearts, peace has won.
Your Excellency, please extend to the Organization of Islamic Conference our appreciation of its continued support to the 1996 Final Peace Agreement and the Southern Philippine peace process as well as the sustained attention and concern extended to our Muslim citizens. May we also express our gratitude for the concern and effort of the Peace Commission for Southern Philippines as it shepherds the Tripartite Meetings towards a more satisfactory implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement. Our people and Government would also wish to show our appreciation to the concern and leadership of the Government of Indonesia, particularly of His Excellency Rezlan Jenie. The 1996 Final Peace Agreement ushered in an era of hope. Let us make that hope a reality.
Maraming salamat po. May God Bless the Southern Philippines. Assalamu alaikum.#
