UN, WB support for gov’t-MILF peace talks hailed

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Last Monday’s launching of the World Bank and United Nations’ joint on-demand technical support for the creation of a Bangsamoro region is seen by officials as a “vote of confidence” for the ongoing talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Representatives of the WB and UN along with MILF chief Al-Haj Murad launched the program, dubbed “Facility for Advisory Support to Transition Capacities (FASTRAC),” at the MILF’s headquarters in Camp Darapanan.

“What else can be the best indication that the government-MILF talks are gaining headway? This cooperation between the World Bank, the United Nations and the MILF indicates that the Mindanao peace process under the Aquino administration is indeed gaining headway,” Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said yesterday in Camp Darapanan.

The FASTRAC will start implementation next week. It will provide expertise and interventions that can hasten the transition from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the Bangsamoro political entity the government and MILF panels are seeking to establish through the Transition Commission (TransCom), based on the framework agreement on Bangsamoro.

UN resident director Luiza Carvalho said the FASTRAC would provide on-demand advisory services and access to the most relevant national and international expertise needed for the Bangsamoro basic law.

The Bangsamoro law will legitimize the ARMM’s replacement with an MILF-led new autonomous government.

The World Bank’s sector manager for sustainable development, Ousmane Dione, said FASTRAC would support the initiatives of the MILF and the government’s peace panel and the TransCom in furthering an inclusive Mindanao peace process.

The MILF central committee agreed to the implementation of the FASTRAC early this month, after a series of brainstorming sessions with representatives of the World Bank and the UN.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, chairman of the regional peace and order council, said the FASTRAC involving the MILF, the WB and the UN could be a showcase of international cooperation in pushing the southern peace process forward.

“We in the ARMM regional cabinet see that as a vote of confidence to the government-MILF talks,” Hataman said.