Peace, development roadmap for Sulu pushed

DAVAO CITY — A peace and development roadmap for Sulu is getting the much-needed push from various stakeholders in the government and the private sectors.

Hostilities between Moro insurgents and the military have been going on for several decades now in Sulu. The proposed roadmap to peace and development is aimed at resolving the long-standing conflict in the province. It is supported by provincial government and the local officials of its 18 towns.

The roadmap to peace in Sulu has been initiated by the multi-sectoral Sulu Bridging Leadership Advocacy Group, which also involved the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), various civil society groups, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), the Tabang Sulu and Pagtabangan Basulta group, and the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process.

Part of the advocacy group’s main activities to push for peace and development is the holding of workshops that would come up with the development agenda.

According to OPAPP, the workshops would enable participants to actively take part in the entire process, which would also involve local residents in the province.

AIM officials likewise stressed the importance of involving the residents in Sulu in the peace and development process, as it would benefit them the most.

"This phase is most important because the participants in this process look forward to peace dividends as a result of multi-stakeholder efforts," AIM Migrant Center executive director Ernesto Garilao said.

OPAPP said the peace workshop in Sulu that was held recently was able to successfully assemble peace stakeholders in the province.