Filipinos hail signing of Bangsamoro peace deal

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), including Muslim Filipinos, in the Kingdom have lauded the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) at the Malacanang Palace on Thursday and thanked Saudi Arabia for its support.
“We are happy indeed,” said Abdulgafar Dimalutang, Magdalo-Riyadh Chapter chairman. “Generations of Filipino Muslims have been looking forward to this. It enables Filipino Muslims to chart their own destiny. This peace deal had been made possible because of President Benigno Aquino III.”
Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah attended the signing of the landmark peace agreement. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak also attended the historic event.
More than 1,000 people filled the expansive tent set up along Malacanang grounds.
Usman Pangandaman Salimbo, an OFW Congress member from the southern Philippines, said the peace deal “is a dream come true.”
“The signing of the peace deal marked the culmination of 17 years of peace talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine government,” said Salimbo, who served as mayor of the town of Masiu in Lanao del Sur from 1988 to 1992.
He said it would pave the way for a new Bangsamoro autonomous political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and will address various issues in the area, such as poverty.
He also expressed confidence in the assertion of Teresita Quintos Deles, presidential adviser to the peace process, that “there would be no more war” with the signing of the deal.
“No more war, no more children scampering for safety, no more evacuees, no more poverty, no more fear,” she was quoted as saying.
“The new dawn following the signing of the historic agreement will ensure that no family will be forced to drive their children away for fear of being marred or wounded by conflict,” said Deles.
Ely Mua, chairman of the United OFW, who comes from Zamboanga City, also expressed happiness over the CAB signing. The United OFW has 2,000 members in the Saudi capital.
“We will keep our fingers crossed that after years of intense fighting between the MILF and government troops, peace will finally reign on Mindanao island. We are now hoping that the Philippine Congress will craft a Bangsamoro basic law,” he said.
“We share our aspiration that basic law, which the government has committed to certify as urgent legislation, will truly embody the aspirations of the Bangsamoro and usher the region toward greater economic, social and cultural activity,” he said.
Government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and MILF Chairman Murad Ebrahim signed the peace agreement.