Aid supporting Bangsamoro hailed

COTABATO CITY, Philipppines --- Officials  see as “vote of confidence” to the on-going talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Monday’s launching of the World Bank and United Nations’ joint on-demand technical support to the setting up of the Bangsamoro region.

The Facility for Advisory Support to Transition Capacities (FASTRAC), was launched in nearby Camp Darapanan by  WB and  UN representatives  and the MILF’s chieftain, Al-Haj Murad.

“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,” said Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu.

Camp Darapanan, the MILF’s main headquarters, is located in Sultan Kudarat town in the first district of Maguindanao. The MILF has dozens of guerrilla camps in the province.

The FASTRAC, whose implementation will start next week, will provide expertise and intervention that can hasten and transition from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the Bangsamoro political entity the government and MILF panels  will establish under the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro.

UN resident Director Luiza Carvalho, who attended  the launching rite at Camp Darapanan, said the FASTRAC will provide on-demand advisory services and access to the most relevant national and international expertise needed in the Basic Bangsamoro Law, which will legitimize the ARMM’s replacement with a new autonomous government.

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

The Murad-led 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 United Nations.

ARMM Gov Mujiv Hataman, chairman of the regional peace and order council, said the FASTRAC can 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.

The ARMM covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in Central Mindanao, the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Lamitan and Marawi.

The MILF wants these areas grouped together into a new governing mechanism that has more administrative, fiscal and political powers.