Roxas assures Cardinal Quevedo of support to peace process if elected

COTABATO CITY -- Administration presidential candidate Manuel Mar” Roxas II on Thursday assured here Orlando Cardinal Quevedo he will sustain the Southern Mindanao peace process if elected.Quevedo, concurrent archbishop of the Diocese of Cotabato and a staunch supporter of Malacañang’s peace overture with the Moro Islamic Liberation, presided over a dialogue of peace activists with Roxas in Cotabato City, where he had a series of campaign engagements Thursday.Roxas was accompanied to the Bishop’s Palace along Sinsuat Avenue here by the Liberal Party’s provincial chairman for Maguindanao, the reelectionist Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, Congresswoman Sandra Sema and Vice Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.Also present in the meeting between Roxas and local peace activists at the Bishop’s Palace were Maguindanao Vice Gov. Lester Sinsuat and Senate President Franklin Drilon.Roxas explained to Quevedo and members of the influential Friends of Peace here he would pursue the peace process if he makes it to the presidency.He said he understood the ramifications of the so-called Moro issue and is aware that a negotiated political solution is the best way to address the decades-old problem. Peace has to take off in Mindanao. We all want peace in Mindanao,” he said.Drilon, who is seeking reelection as LP senatorial bet, also assured Quevedo and members of the Friends of Peace he would also help push the Mindanao peace process if given new mandate to serve as senator again.The meeting of Quevedo, who belong to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) congregation, and Roxas was preceded by an LP sortie in nearby Kakar area here, which he and Drilon attended.Some 7,000 women participated in the event in Kakar, where Roxas received a rousing welcome from residents in the area, a known political bailiwick of Sema and her spouse, Muslimin, who is LP’s candidate for mayor of Cotabato City.The gathering of LP supporters in Kakar was also attended by the party’s Muslim senatorial candidate, Ina Ambolodto.