Hatamanand Decommissioning, MILF's act of sacrifice for peace

SULTAN
KUDARAT, Maguindanao -- Regional Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao today said President Aquino's visit to Maguindanao
and in the ARMM to witness the decommissioning of firearms of the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) was most historic.

President
Aquino today witnessed the turn over, described by the government and MILF
peace panels as decommissioning, of firearms.

It was the
President's third visit to ARMM, an indication of his determination to attain
peace in Mindanao during his term, Hataman said.On
the decommissioning of MILF guns, Hataman said the MILF showed its sincerity in
the peace process, not by words but by actions.

Today,
we will witness the Moro Islamic Liberation Front symbolically lay down their
arms to show their commitment to establishing a lasting peace in Mindanao. This
is the act of peace, the show of sincerity in the peace process, that we have
all been waiting for from the MILF and the government, Hataman said.

This is an act of sacrifice for peace, he said of the decommissioning, the initial phase of the normalization process of the GPH-MILF peace process. Beginning
today, the MILF will beat swords to ploughshares as soldiers will begin to
bring life to the land instead of taking from it. Today, mothers will begin to
send their children to school again without fear, and welcome them home
happily. Today, children will start learning to be children, and hope never to
learn about war again, Hataman said.

We
silence the guns today and our voices will drown the songs of war our voice
will echo the calls for peace. We have been doing so for the past 17 years,
culminating in a document we now know as the Bangsamoro Basic Law,
Hataman said of the historic event aptly described by the MILF as a great
sacrifice in the Bangsamoro struggle.

He then
appealed to the country's lawmakers to give the draft BBL a second and serious
look because it defines the future of Muslims in the country.

This Law, the
fruit of many legal minds, both Moro and non-Moro, will be the rock on which
lasting peace and eventual economic progress in Mindanao can be built, he
said.

Hataman said
the draft law has suffered much under the hands of those who have studied it,
as well as those who have not, but it has been passed by the House Ad Hoc Committee,
though it is now going through what might be called an obstacle race in the
Senate.

We pray
that this race will soon end and the BBL be hailed as victorious, Hataman
said.

He said the
peace panel has done its part - the decommissioning of guns despite uncertainty
of the BBL fate in the Philippine legislature.

The
Bangsamoro will continue to do what is necessary, this decommissioning of arms
not the least, in order to make our dream of lasting peace a reality, he
stressed.

We hope
that the President, who has been its champion since its inception, will do
everything that is possible for the BBL to come to its fruition, Hataman
said, adding the ARMM government has already laid down the foundation of good
governance in time for the coming of the new political entity in Muslim
Mindanao. (Edwin O. Fernandez)