President Benigno S. Aquino III welcomes Vietnam Ministry of Public Security Minister Sr. Lt. Gen. To Lam during the courtesy call at the Music Room of the Malacañan Palace on Wednesday (June 08).(MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) — President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday said the Filipino nation must continue “along the road to a true and lasting peace” beyond his term as his eyed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) failed to pass during his administration.
During the launch of the book “Junctures,” a collection of speeches and statements on the Bangsamoro peace process from 2012 to 2016, Aquino said, “There is a lot more to come” for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) if the nation continues to take “the right path” to peace.
“It is a path that has benefited those in the margins; and it is a path that heals the fractures within the country we share. And the message that we now send to our countrymen is: We must continue along this path,” Aquino told the audience, composed of peace advocates and members of the peace panel.
Aquino said he is willing to help stakeholders in the peace process even as an ordinary citizen.
“In 21 days, I will be stepping down from office, but to all of you in attendance today, and to each person of goodwill who wishes to fulfill the Promise of Mindanao, I will remain your friend and ally,” he said.
The outgoing President says he remains “hopeful for fighting for the passage” of the BBL in the next Congress.
“There is a long way to go, and many of us who worked so hard for peace are fearful, apprehensive, and unsure. It is true that the culmination of our efforts has been delayed. Today, however, I ask you to remember and take strength from the progress we have made,” Aquino said.
“There is no denying that, thanks to our shared efforts, our countrymen in Mindanao are enjoying the dividends of peace,” he added.
Despite his continuous push for the BBL during his term, Aquino failed to convince Congress on its approval. The BBL would have been the legal framework of the peace agreement signed between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
During the presidential campaign, Aquino repeatedly blamed the failure of Congress to pass the BBL on Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., the chairman of the Senate committee on local government, after he came up with a substitute bill to the proposal submitted by the government.
Meawnwhile, Aquino also trumpeted what his administration has done for ARMM, citing infrastructure in the region worth P61.64 billion, the expansion of access to electricity, and the 1,133 poverty reduction projects amounting to P2.6 billion, among others.
Secretary Teresita Deles, head of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), said she hopes that the incoming administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will carry the torch forward for peace.
“Peace cannot be forged in a matter of months or even six years. A peace agreement marks not the end but the beginning of work that must carry on over many years, perhaps even over decades. Any peace agreement must be upheld over and beyond administrations,” she said.
For his part, MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said he wants Filipinos to understand the context of the peace process through the publication initiated by the peace panel.
In a message read during the event, Ebrahim said he hopes that the publication will “encourage support for the continuity and success of the Bangsamoro peace process.”
“Education is key. If people understand the context of this whole process, appreciate it and work for it, then I would like to believe that we have partially won the battle,” he said.(MNS)