Friday, February 15, 2013

Speech of Sec. Teresita Quintos Deles at the Formal Launch of Sajahatra Bangsamoro




Speech of Sec. Teresita Quintos Deles at the Formal Launch of Sajahatra Bangsamoro

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Posted on Friday, 15 February, 2013 - 11:11
Mon, 02/11/2013
Good morning. Magandang umaga po. Assalamu Alaykum.
Sajahatra Bangsamoro! Blessings, prosperity, and peace upon the Bangsamoro!
It was not so long ago when we were in a similar jam-packed event to witness a milestone in our history unfold. Apat na buwan na po ang nakakaraan mula nang sinaksihan ng buong bansa, at ng ibang panig ng mundo ang paglagda sa Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro noong Oktubre kinse 2012 sa Malacanang. The event, and the agreement, which we now refer to as the FAB for brevity, promised the dawning of beautiful morning to wake-up to after the nightmares of violent armed conflict.
Ngayon po, ako ay nagising sa umagang kay ganda. A beautiful sunny morning full of happy anticipation to take part in yet another milestone in our peace efforts.
Ang FAB ay isang kasunduan na nagbigay ng “roadmap” para sa kapayapaan at kaunlaran sa rehiyong ito na matagal nang apektado ng digmaan. Sa loob ng nakaraang apat na buwan, tatlong beses na pong nakabalik sa negotiating table ang ating mga peace panels, kasama ang kani-kanilang mga eksperto na bumubuo ng Technical Working Groups or TWGs,  para sa patuloy na pag-uusap at pagsusulat ng mga annexes na, kasama ng FAB, ay magbubuo ng comprehensive peace agreement.
As stated in the FAB, there are Annexes on (1) Power-Sharing, on (2) Wealth-Sharing, on (3) Normalization, and on (4) Transitional Arrangements and Modalities.  Ang mga aneksong ito ang magdedetalye ng pagbuo ng at pagtatalaga ng Bangsamoro na ipapasok sa panukalang batas na bubuuin ng Transition Commission at isusumite para isabatas ng Kongreso bago mag-eleksyon sa 2016.
Tulad ng nasabi natin noong nakaraang Oktubre, marami pa ang mga pagsubok na ating kakaharapin sa prosesong pangkapayapaan. Subalit lahat ng ito, gaano man kahirap ay kakayanin nating matagumpay na malampasan, dahil sa matatag na pagtitiwala na nabuo gitna ng dalawang panig.
Like we said on that historic day in October 2012, so many challenges await us, but the bridge of trust that we have painstakingly built is strong enough to withstand the trials ahead, however difficult they may be.
The trust is exhibited anew in a partnership with the leadership of MILF to immediately bring the benefits of peace to its combatants, their immediate families and communities, and those most vulnerable to conflict, particularly the internally displaced persons, women, and children. This partnership is what we are launching today as the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program.
Ang Sajahatra Bangsamoro ay inisyatibo ng Pangulong Aquino, ang ating minamahal na P.Noy, bilang paunang paghahatid ng mga dibidendo ng kapayapaan sa mga komunidad ng Bangsamoro habang patuloy na inaayos ng administrasyon ang paghahatid nito ng mga kasunduang politkal sa FAB na ating makikita sa mga susunod na araw at buwan.  Our commitments on delivering political commitments under FAB remain unflinching, even as we start with delivering peace initiatives to Bangsamoro communities.
Sajahatra Bangsamoro is composed of several components that will provide beneficiaries with, first, enhanced health services led by the DOH thru PhilHealth insurance coverage and upgraded health facilities in targeted barangays and municipalities. On the education component, college study grants will be awarded by CHED, and vocational scholarships from TESDA, as well as provision of mobilization grants to selected private madaris catering to children in Bangsamoro communities to help prepare them for accreditation in DepEd programs. For livelihood, beneficiary communities will undergo needs assessment to determine what kind of livelihood suit their needs and circumstance. While this is ongoing, there will be beneficiaries for DSWD’s Cash for Work program.
Ang Sajahatra Bangsamoro ay ipapatupad sa iba't-ibang komunidad ng Bangsamoro sa loob ng labing walong buwan. Ang kabuuang pondo ng programa ay manggagaling po sa gobyerno.
Even though Sajahatra Bangsamoro already involves 7 national government agencies, and in today’s launch, a number of the Cabinet members are in attendance, Sajahatra Bangsamoro is not the main or only socio-economic program for the entire Bangsamoro. There are already programs in place both by the National Government and the ARMM government.
Ang Sajahtra Bangsamoro ay parte lamang ng mas malaki, mas malawak at pang-matagalang programang ilulunsad na sasagot sa mga pangangailangan sa imprastraktura tulad ng mga kalsada, at paglinang ng mga industriya na popondohan ng gobyerno at pribadong sektor.  In due time, the long-term program will determine investment priorities, and propose mechanisms for implementation, taking always into consideration the transition mechanisms laid out under the Framework Agreement. 
Because both sides have seen that working together in true partnership can result in a program that not only makes sense to both parties and the bigger public that serves as a testament that doing things side by side is the only way to go, we are hoping and expecting that this bigger planning activity will also come from the partnership started in Sajahatra. 
As members of the MILF Central Committee are sitting together with members of Cabinet, as the security forces of the GPH are now securing this area together with the BIAF, as doctors from the DOH are working side by side with MILF doctors in the medical mission down the road, what we have today is truly historic.  It is a paradigm shift.  It is a clear signal that we have broken from the past where Government and the MILF sat across a divide that many thought was too wide to bridge. 
Muli, marami pa tayong mga pagsubok na haharapin. Kung magtutulungan tayo - Insha’Allah - sa ating magkasamang pagtahak ng tuwid na daan - al sirat al mustaquim - unti-unti nating malalagpasan ang mga ito patungo sa iisang pangarap natin para sa mapayapa at masaganang bukas.
Muli po, isang umagang lubos ng ganda. Sukran.



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P-Noy, Murad underscore trust, sincerity in achieving gains in peace process

Posted on Tuesday, 12 February, 2013 - 07:33

The milestones achieved by the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were made possible owing to the trust and sincerity that both sides have demonstrated to each other.
“Kinakaya po nating pangarapin ang mga ito, dahil sa tiwalang ipinapakita ng liderato ni kapatid na Al Haj Murad at ng central committee ng MILF at pati na rin po ang inyong mga fighters (We are able to dream of these because of the trust being demonstrated by the leadership of brother AL Haj Murad and the central committee of the MILF as well as your fighters),” President Benigno Aquino III said during the launch of the Sajahatra Bangsamoro program on Monday at the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.
The President was accompanied by Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, Presidential Communication Operations Office Sec. Sonny Coloma, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Sec. Ricky Carandang, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles, Social Welfare and Development Sec. Corazon 'Dinky' Soliman, Education Sec. Armin Luistro, Transportation and Communication Sec. Jun Abaya, Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala, Mindanao Development Authority Sec. Luwalhati Antonino, Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Patricia Licuanan, Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin, Budget Secretary Butch Abad, and Health Sec. Enrique Ona.  Also present were members of the peace negotiating panel, the highest officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police as well as officials and representatives of government agencies participating in the Sajahatra Bangsamoro program.
From the MILF side, Chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim led his contingent composed of the members of the MILF Central Committee and the MILF peace negotiating panel. Hundreds of members of the MILF community also witnessed the ceremonial turnover of services and projects to selected beneficiaries.
“Alam ko pong hindi madali ang magbukas ng puso sa gobyerno matapos ang apat na dekadang pakikipaglaban (I know that it is not easy to open one’s heart to the government after four decades of fighting),” President Aquino stated.
“Ngunit nakita po ni AL Haj Murad: Ito na ang pagkahinog ng mga sakripisyo ninyo, ni Hashim Salamat na nauna sa kanya, at ng napakarami pang mga kapatid na dumaan sa pasakit upang makamtan ang kapayapaan at sapat na kalinga mula sa estado at gobyerno (But Murad has seen that this is the fruit of his sacrifices and that of Hashim Salamat, who came before him, and the many brothers who went through great struggle to attain peace and adequate care from the state and
government)."
President Aquino, who was known as the first president who has initiated a meeting with the MILF leader, has again made history by being the first president to have visited an MILF community.
For his part, Murad said they were “humbled by this grand gesture.”
“It is certainly a bold step for government to partner not with the usual institutions of government, but with one of its adversaries, in a remarkable journey to peace,” he stated. “We welcome the partnership between the government and the MILF."
The MILF leader also said that it is the “repeated pronouncement of sincerity of the President that gives us solace in this difficult process.”
On the same note, Deles underlined that the “bridge of trust we have painstakingly built is strong enough to withstand the trials ahead no matter difficult they may be.”
“The trust is exhibited anew in a partnership with the leadership of MILF to immediately bring the benefits of peace to its combatants, their immediate families and communities, and those most vulnerable to conflict, particularly the internally displaced persons,” she said.
While the MILF welcomed the sincere gesture from the government to make immediate the dividends of peace, Murad cautioned “not to lose sight of the imperative and the challenges of the works ahead -that of achieving in the soonest possible time the signing of the comprehensive compact between the MILF and the GPH.”
Seeds of trust
President Aquino recalled his first meeting with Murad in Japan in August 2011 when the “first seeds of trust were planted” with the MILF. He likewise mentioned the historic signing in October 2012 of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) in which “the first fruits of our hard work became enshrined."
“At ngayon po, ang ipinapakita natin sa pamamagitan nitong Sajahatra Bangsamoro program: Hindi na kailangang maghintay ng mahabang panahon upang madanas ang pagbabago; ang puwedeng simulan o ipatupad ngayon, sisimulan at ipapatupad natin ngayon (And now, we demonstrate that through this Sajahatra Bangsamoro program, there is no need to wait for a long time to experience change; we will start and implement what can be started and implemented now),” he said.
“Our goal: To accelerate the transition of MILF communities steeped in armed struggle, to a productive citizenry that buys into the national agenda, and contributes to our shared goal of equitable progress,” added President Aquino.
Likewise, Deles referred to the forging of the historic document which earned recognition and support from both the local and international communities.
“It was not so long ago when we are in a similar jam-packed event to witness a milestone in our history unfold,” she said. “The event, and the agreement, which we now referred to as the FAB for brevity, promised the dawning of beautiful mornings to wake-up to after the nightmares of violent armed conflict.”
“Ngayon po, ako ay nagising sa umagang kay ganda (Today, I woke up to a beautiful morning). A beautiful sunny morning full of happy anticipation to be part in yet another milestone in our peace efforts,” Deles stated stressing that the partnership between the government and the MILF “is what we are launching today.”
Sajahatra Bangsamoro is the President’s concrete, socio-economic peace initiative that aims to uplift the health, education and livelihood conditions of MILF communities towards realizing lasting peace and development for the Bangsamoro people and the entire country. It signifies the strong partnership between the government and the MILF as both work together in identifying beneficiaries and projects to address immediate needs of the people. #













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